Ozark Piecemakers Quilt Guild

PO Box 4931

Springfield, Missouri 65808

www.OzarkPiecemakers.com

The Ozark Piecemakers Quilt Guild, a large guild of 290+ members, was established in 1981 and has been serving the community of Springfield and the surrounding area for over 28 years. 80% percent of the 290+ Guild members are drawn from South West Missouri and North West Arkansas. This guild is considered a regional guild, rather than a Springfield guild.

The Guild was formed to promote a fellowship of those interested in the preservation and the sharing of the art of quilting, to encourage community awareness of quilting and related arts, and to share our knowledge of the enjoyment of quilting. In addition the Guild supports a number of non-profit organizations in the S.W. Missouri area.

The Guild sponsors a Quilt Show every two years. Our show was held at the Springfield Expo Center on September 23-25. Details from the show can be found by clicking on the OPQG Quilt Show icon on the left.

The Guild, a non-profit organization, provides a number of services to the community throughout the year. The proceeds from the Guild’s Quilt Show provide the funds for the Guild’s operating expenses and funds for Community Outreach for the next two years. The quilt show must have the support of the community so the Guild will have sufficient funds to continue the Community Outreach projects listed below:

Harmony House, the local Family Violence Shelter has been adopted by the Guild.

• The Guild donates 25% of the proceeds from the quilt auction, a feature of our Quilt Show.
• Members make monthly monetary donations, which is used to purchase supplies for the facility. During 2009, February thru October, Guild members donated over $2,000; numerous cell phones, plus contributions of clothing and other items for the shelter.

• At our December Christmas Party, members donated $955 for Harmony House. The Guild matches the members donations up to $500. The total amount collected was $1,455 ($955 + $500). The Guild used this money to purchase Christmas presents for the women and children living at the shelter. In addition, the membership, in lieu of a member gift exchange, contributed items that the Violence Center was in particular need: socks, batteries, diapers and trash bags. http://www.familyviolencecenter.org
• The Guild furnished a room when the shelter moved to a new facility in the mid 1990s.

The Community Quilts group makes and donates quilts to a number of local organizations. In 2009 we gave away 336 quilts. Fourteen of those quilts were given to non-profit organizations to use as fund raisers. These organizations raised a total of $3986 for their causes. The remaining quilts are given to area non-profit organizations, which distribute them to those in need in our community and surrounding areas. Attached is the breakdown of the organizations receiving these quilts and the amount of money generated for the receiving organizations.

In addition, Community Quilts support the Patch Program, Parents and Their Children. This program is sponsored by Schweitzer Methodist Church. The church provides transportation for children who have parents in prison, so they can visit them monthly. The Patch Program drivers have found that the children are happy and excited on the way to the prison, but sad and depressed on the way home. The drivers said that having a quilt to wrap up in seems to be comforting for the children. The guild provides these quilts as needed.

The Doll Quilt project sponsored by the Night Group has been an on going partnership with Crosslines.  At Christmas we donated 94 small Doll quilts and Crosslines pair the small quilts with dolls or stuffed toys that have been donated for Christmas time. http://www.crosslines.org/Crosslines/Services.html

The Guild Marine Stocking Project supports the Marine Moms “Operation Santa” Project. This group sends Christmas stockings to Marine units in combat. For the fourth year in a row the Guild has participated in the project. This year the Guild made and donated 1531 Christmas stockings and members donated $300 to help defray the $4,039 shipping costs. Our local Marine Corps Reserve Unit was deployed this fall and they were part of the Battalion that received the packages containing our stockings.

Each July Guild members help set up the Ozark Empire Fair quilt display and the Guild sponsors a $150 cash award.

The Guild established a Scholarship Fund and in 2009 awarded an MSU student a $1000 scholarship for the 2009-2010 school year. This scholarship is funded by donations and the proceeds from the Guilds raffle quilt.

2009 RAFFLE QUILT REQUESTS (14)

· Ozark Literacy Council was given 1 large quilt and raised $100.00

· Springfield Little Theater Aux. was given 1 large quilt and raised $285.00

· The Civil War Roundtable of the Ozarks was given 1 large quilt and raised $1,053.00

· The Springfield Workshop was given 1 large quilt and raised $300.00

· Greenwood Laboratory School was given 1 large quilt and raised $200.00

· Autism Speaks was given1 large quilt and raised $637.00

· Town & Country Club was given 1 large quilt and raised $268.00

· The Festival of Sharing was given 2 large quilts and raised $245.00

· The ALS Walk was given 1 large quilt and raised $503.00

· CASA was given 1 large quilt for their raffle

· The Springfield Regional Opera was given 1 large quilt and raised $300.00

· The Sertoma Club of Springfield was given a large raffle quilt

· The Soroptimist Club was given 1 large raffle quilt

2009 DONATIONS TO OUR CLIENTS (322)

· Bailey Alternative High School 9 crib quilts

· CASA 4 bed quilts

· Child Advocacy Center 8 child quilts

· Cox Hospital 49 baby quilts and 29 blankets

· The Family Violence Center 19 quilts

· The Kitchen 48 quilts

· Newborn's-in Need 39 baby quilts and 17 flannel blankets

· Regional Girls Shelter 6 bed quilts

· Ronald McDonald House 8 child and 3 bed quilts

· Southwest Center for Independent Living 11 quilts

· St. John's Hospital 30 small blankets and 42 baby quilts