HERMISTON, Ore.-Patients at the Good Shepherd Health Care System (GSHCS) Cancer Center will be able to stay a little warmer during treatment thanks to the recent donation of lap quilts created by some dedicated volunteers.
Good Shepherd Community Health Foundation (GSCHF) board member LaDonna Quaempts headed up the lap quilt project.
“I had all these quilts, and it got to the point where I thought, ‘this is ridiculous, they’re doing nothing,’” said Quaempts, of her large collection of quilts.
Even after giving some quilts to her family, Quaempts still had several left, and that’s when she thought of making lap quilts for cancer patients, who are often cold during treatment.
Quaempts added, “the Foundation puts together cancer care bags for patients, and I thought, ‘what else can we do?’”
The lap quilt project involved converting full-size quilts into lap-size ones for patients, a process that turned a few big quilts into several smaller ones.
“All of the lap quilts are different and beautiful,” said Quaempts. “I’m proud of the creativity and generosity of the volunteers who make them.”
Kathy Thew, a member of the Good Shepherd Auxiliary and a cancer survivor herself, was one of the volunteers who participated in the lap quilt project.
“It’s nice to put these old big quilts to use and to be able to give these new quilts to cancer patients,” said Thew.
Quaempts and other GSCHF Board members, volunteers, and community members donated the lap quilts to the Good Shepherd Cancer Center on June 18.
“We really appreciate the lap quilt donation for our patients,” said Susan Stephens, RN, Nurse Manager at Good Shepherd. “We’re also very low on blanket donations, so this is great timing.”
The Good Shepherd Cancer Center is located at 620 NW 11th Street, Suite M-102 in Hermiston. Appointments may be requested online, or by calling 541.667.3615.
