A record number of Christmas placemats were distributed this holiday season, after the Prairie Hearts Quilter’s Guild broke all previous records with a total of 525 hand-made creations produced by the 2023 deadline.
This amounts to 121 more placemats than were distributed one year earlier in 2022, and the yearly average has been approximately 350.
The purpose of the placemat campaign is to give senior residents and patients in the hospital during Christmas a positive reminder of the season. As many individuals are alone or unable to travel to visit relatives, the gesture gives a reminder that they are being thought of and recipients can enjoy Christmas dinner with a bright, cheerful complement.
The record number could be attributed to several factors that include the ongoing use of Vanier Collegiate’s art room after school hours and a membership of around 94 members.
“I think more and more people were enthused this year, for whatever reason. I’m happy about that,” said Linda Owens, the guild’s committee co-ordinator.
Meals on Wheels is a program that provides hot, nutritionally balanced meals directly to the home of its customers. The program allows older adults to remain independently living in their own home and the quilter’s guild works closely with the program.
“There are more folks getting Meals on Wheels this year than last year,” Owens said. She views this as a positive development, as the numbers indicate more people continue living at home.
In 2022, 70 placemats were delivered to Meals on Wheels customers, and this number rose to 83 placemats in 2023. These were distributed to residents in Moose Jaw, Rockglen, Gravelbourg, and Assiniboia.
Senior care homes were included in the program. In Moose Jaw, Aspira Westpark Crossing Retirement Living, Capilano Court, and Crescent Park Retirement Villa all received the colourful mats.
Outside of Moose Jaw, the list included care homes in Central Butte, Gravelbourg, Assiniboia, and Imperial. The furthest delivery was to the Foam Lake Jubilee Home where a past guild member continues to receive her yearly mat.
The Assiniboia Union Hospital recently converted one wing of the building into a level four care home, and Owens said each of these 24 residents received a placemat in addition to residents of the Ross Payant Care Home and Assiniboia Prairie Villa.
Hospital patients of all ages were also on the list, with 55 mats left at the Dr. F.H. Wigmore Regional Hospital to accommodate everyone admitted over Christmas, and 14 mats were given to each patient at the Assiniboia Union Hospital.
At the end of the campaign, all the guild’s placemats were used. In previous years, it was possible to have a few left over to be stored in preparation for the next season.
“I was actually four (placemats) short, but (the last care home on the list) said they had some table centres they could give to the poor people I didn’t have enough placemats for,” Owens said. Thanks to this last-minute ingenuity, nobody was left out this holiday season.
Prairie Hearts Quilter’s Guild has been running the Christmas placemat program for around a decade, and members meet on the first and third Thursday of each month to work on their projects and learn new techniques. The guild’s outreach includes pillowcases for children in the hospital and quilts for patients undergoing dialysis treatment.
“We just kind of help out wherever it’s needed in the community,” the guild’s president Ann Richey said in an earlier statement.
To learn more about the Prairie Hearts Quilter’s Guild or to become a member, visit PrairieHeartsQuilters.com or the guild’s Facebook page, ‘Moose Jaw Prairie Hearts Quilters Guild.’
Linda Owens and Ann Richey can be reached at [email protected].
In response to some providers blocking access to Canadian news on their platforms, our website, MooseJawToday.com will continue to be your source for hyper-local Moose Jaw news. Bookmark MooseJawToday.com and sign up for our free online newsletter to read the latest local developments.
