Quilts and prayers for children in the Ukraine

“The Quilting Group at Blessed Sacrament has been working on a generous act of charity the past three weeks,” said Bridget Grapentine, parish director of evangelization.

 Cathy Ostwald, a member of the quilters, said the project began when she woke up one night wondering how to help displaced Ukrainians. She shared her concerns with the group, and they decided to help. “We said we can make and send kids quilts and that’s what we did,” she said.

 “We’ve got 12 of the greatest quilters in Rapid City. They are amazing,” said Ostwald. The members have extra fabric in their homes left over from various projects and there is a stash of cloth at the church too. “The cotton fabric started flying off of our shelves and the plan fell together,” she added. The group made 37 lap size quilts in bright patterns for children ages 1-14.

 They enlisted Fr. Andrzej Wyrostek, Piedmont, to help. He is leaving for Poland the first part of June. When they were done, they could only pack 30 quilts into two large suitcases. Father Andrzej asked them to leave a little room for a change of clothes for him. The quilters also took up a collection to pay any fees if the suitcases exceeded the luggage weight allowance.

 “I will take the quilts to Poland, where I will be meeting with Fr. Jacek Waligora. He is a classmate of mine from the seminary in Poland. He is originally from the Bielsko-Zywiec Diocese in Poland, but he serves as a priest in the Ukraine,” said Father Andrzej. “I will be meeting him in Krakow, so I can present him with the quilts, the prayers and words of encouragement from the people of the Rapid City Diocese and of the Quilting Group from Blessed Sacrament Parish.”

 Cathy Ostwald said, “We are praying Fr. Andrzej has a safe trip and we pray for the people of Ukraine. We hope those who receive our quilts know how proud we are to have helped in such a humble way. God bless you all.” 

 The dozen women regularly make quilts for veterans, Children’s Home Society (Keystone) and babies in the parish.