May 25, 2021
Members of the Mental Health team at Peter Lougheed Centre display a few of the quilts donated to Calgary Zone patients by the Blankets of Love Mental Health Foundation.
Story & photo by Melanie Veriotes
Some mental health patients in Calgary Zone will enjoy added comfort with their own “blanket of love” during their hospital stay, thanks to the handiwork of quilters from across Alberta.
The comfy gifts have arrived courtesy of the latest campaign of the Blankets of Love Mental Health Foundation, which gathered 283 quilts to present to patients in the Foothills Hospital, Peter Lougheed Centre, South Health Campus and Rockyview General Hospital.
Members of the foundation team were thrilled to surpass their initial goal of 250 quilts, says founder Sheila Ethier, a nurse in Edmonton Zone. With so many staying at home during the pandemic, the quilters put their time to good use, and found that making the quilts helped them with their own mental health. They eagerly participated, knowing their creations would benefit and bring hope to others.
“I created the Blankets of Love project in the summer of 1996,” says Ethier. “I was a patient on the psychiatric ward at the University of Alberta Hospital several times for the treatment of major depression. I remember how lonely and isolated I had felt from the rest of the world. I was always cold and looking for more blankets.”
The quilts were presented to the mental health team at Peter Lougheed Hospital (PLC) in April by foundation volunteers. In accordance with COVID protocols, they were stored in quarantine for 72 hours, prior to distribution.
Vida Azariah, program manager of the Addictions and Mental Health Program at PLC, thanked Ethier and her quilters for their generous donation on behalf of patients. “It will make their stay here with us feel a little more like home.”
Since its inception, the foundation has enjoyed a warm response, and branched out in response. In 2004, the Blankets of Love Foundation for Mental Health incorporated and began providing quilts to hospitals across Canada. To date, more than 4,500 quilts have been donated to patients who are in need of comfort and hope.
