Passionate about giving back

By Cassie Wandersee, Staff Writer

 

Lana Hauschel and her mother, Donna Lyman, are passionate about quilting for Project Linus, a non-profit organization that provides quilts to children that are hospitalized in critical condition or terminally ill.

 

“It is so rewarding to give something back. I remember the first time we drove to Wichita to drop the quilts off, I cried on the way home. It is such a small piece to give of ourselves, it really is the least we can do,” she said.

 

Lana first learned of Project Linus from a woman in Galva that was involved in the organization and that’s how she began donating quilts to the project.

 

“We’ve always been quilters,” said Lana. “We used to have to drive quite a ways to get them machine quilted though, so we bought our own and started doing it at home.” Having a machine at home allowed the production of quilts to increase, as well as decreasing their costs of production.

 

“The quilts can be made from scraps or leftovers of material,” Lana explained.

 

It would seem that others in the community have embraced her quilting efforts. Lana often comes home to find bags of material or quilt pieces on her doorstep. She said that the largest donation that has been left at her home was three large trash bags full of material. “I have no idea who dropped it off, but I was so thankful they did,” she said.

 

Over the 10 years she has been involved in the program, Lana and her mother have donated 274 quilts to the cause.

 

Under the program, the blanketeers that donate never meet the children that receive the quilts. But that doesn’t dampen the spirits of Lana or her desire to keep on quilting.

 

“I wish I had more time to quilt,” she said. “Quilting is my retirement plan.”

 

Lana is the Counter/Grain Specialist for MKC (Lindsborg) and represents a growing number of employees who donate their time to their communities.