Sewing 40 quilts can be a daunting task — especially for people who are not familiar with needles and fabric.
But that didn't stop one local group from starting a quilting project to help a Kenyan orphanage.
"It might be nice for these children to have personalized blankets," said Sally McClintock, a retired educator and the board president of Linking All Types of Teachers to International Cross-Cultural Education or LATTICE, a group of MSU graduate students and educators.
Members went to The Quilt Depot, a Lansing store that sells fabrics and supplies, to see if they could receive discounted materials.
Instead of just getting a few good deals, LATTICE members saw the project grow as store owner Patti Parmenter decided to help.
The Quilt Depot already had some quilts because the store's employees and customers donate blankets year-round. They sewed about 40 quilts in three days.
"We all started making quilts at home, and the next thing you know, we had more quilts than we needed," Parmenter said.
The project began when LATTICE co-founder Anne Mungai's 25-year-old daughter, Caroline, died in November 2004. Mungai's daughter, who spent every summer helping inner-city children, dreamed of building a school for impoverished youth.
Mungai, an MSU alumna, wanted to create something in her memory. In January 2005, she opened the Caroline Mungai Foundation in Nairobi, Kenya, in remembrance of her daughter.
"We're carrying on her legacy," Mungai said.
LATTICE member Greta Trice said the organization appreciated help from The Quilt Depot employees and customers.
"I don't know if we would have been able to do this without them," Trice said.
The members said they believe the blankets will have an impact.
"A blanket is a sign of warmth and love," Mungai said.
"We will cover the children with love from Michigan. It's symbolic of the hugs that these kids never get."
Members said its initial goal of 40 quilts was surpassed, but did not know the final count.
In 1995, while Mungai and her husband earned their master's degrees from MSU, Caroline grew up in the East Lansing community.
She attended Spartan Village Elementary, Hannah Middle School and East Lansing High School. After graduation, she went to Howard University and then Adelphi University in New York.
Now, Mungai is a professor in the College of Education at Adelphi and currently lives in New York.
In 1995, she co-founded LATTICE. The organization links six school districts in Mid-Michigan with international graduate students at MSU. McClintock said some people in LATTICE have become more involved with the Caroline Mungai Foundation in support of their fellow LATTICE member. About 18 members have formed the subgroup, the Kenyan Interest Project.
They have been meeting for a year and are interested in learning about Kenya.
"The meetings feel like home," Mungai said.
