DUNEDIN – The Church of the Good Shepherd, Dunedin’s Prayer Quilters and Crafters (COGS Crafters) supports Good Shepherd’s Pack-A-Sac program that assists in providing food security for local school children by making prayer quilts. The group holds craft fairs throughout the year where they sell items they have made as part of ongoing fundraising efforts.
In late January 2022, they planned their first joint quilt for the year which entailed choosing a pattern and the colors for the quilt blocks. The group selected the colors blue and yellow for the quilt.
By the time the quilt was completed in March, the war in Ukraine had begun. The group felt their color choice was God-inspired and wanted to use this quilt to assist Ukrainian refugees.
They decided to host a raffle for the quilt and send the money raised to Episcopal Relief & Development’s Ukraine Crisis Response Fund. Their goal was to raise $500. Raffle ticket sales started in April and COGS Crafters group members sold tickets to friends and families via their Facebook pages and to other members of Good Shepherd.
They quickly reached their initial $500 goal as sales continued to grow. The quilt was raffled off on Sunday, May 15, 2022. The initial goal was exceeded by more than four times and COGS Crafters were honored to present a check to Episcopal Relief & Development’s Ukraine Crisis Response Fund for $2,100.