A quilt may not seem to wield much power, but officers with the Oktibbeha County Sheriff’s Office have seen quilts impact emotional situations in a positive way. Each patrol car contains one, a small quilt intended to bring a measure of comfort to a child thrust into trauma through a house fire, an auto accident or even a domestic dispute.
“It’s something small, but it could be something big for that person at that moment,” said OCSO Sgt. 1st Class Brandon Griggs.
The comfort quilts are made by women in the Golden Triangle Quilters Guild, which meets monthly at the Starkville Sportsplex. It’s something the members have been doing since 2010. They have now donated approximately 50 quilts for patrol officers’ use.
“It’s our small contribution; it can help a child deal with the stress of the moment,” said Guild President Marilyn Wilson. “This is one of our community service efforts, and we feel strongly about this.”
It’s a good program, says OCSO Chief Deputy Chadd Garnett. The quilts are even on an inventory list for each cruiser.
“We do inspections on our vehicles, and that has to be checked off — a quilt and a stuffed animal,” Garnett added. “If a child’s involved in an accident, or if we have to go to a home, it can give them something to hold onto and keep.”
Guild members are alerted when officers’ quilt stock gets low. They’re always ready with more. Tradition calls for each quilter to make a comfort quilt for the department during the member’s birthday month.
Wilson said, “My birthday’s in July, for example, so every July I make a small quilt and donate it to the cause; everybody gives their contribution.”
While the majority of quilts are generally used during cold, wintry months, “even in July, if you’re in shock, you need that blanket,” Wilson added.
Dot Livingston liaisons with the sheriff’s office to be sure it is supplied. She ensures each quilt is packaged in a large plastic bag, suitable to be kept in the trunk of every patrol car. A stuffed animal is included. Even though the quilts are child-sized, Livingston told of hearing about a call when an officer gave one to a woman who had escaped a house fire.
“She had gotten out in her nightgown, and they took one of the quilts and wrapped around her, and left it with her.”
Griggs said, “For a person going through a traumatic event, to be able to receive anything — it doesn’t matter what it is — it’s kind of an uplifting thing.”
A quilt around the shoulders can be almost symbolic, he continued. Being enwrapped in something comforting can help anyone feel just a little bit safer.
The innocent
Children are innocent victims, said Lt. Chain Owens of the sheriff’s office. In event of an auto accident, as an example, the adult driver will generally take the brunt of impact and sometimes have to be transported to a hospital.
“When people are hurt and children are separated from their family, the children are left behind with whoever is on the scene — maybe a relative, maybe a trusted officer,” Owens said. The quilts can bring some stability to the situation, divert a child’s attention, provide something to hold on to.
“A child’s eyes turn to that blanket or stuffed animal instead of what’s happening,” Owens went on. “I know it’s brief, but it can bring relief to a stressful situation, and it helps when you can take some fear away from the child.”
The very act of offering a quilt to someone in distress can, in its way, help foster a connection between law enforcement and victim. In the context of a domestic dispute call, “children may just see us as bad people because we have to take mommy or daddy away,” said Owens. “We don’t want these children not liking us; we want them to feel safe and secure when we’re around.”
Personally rewarding
Quilters invest a bit of themselves in every piece made for the sheriff’s office.
“I think most of us say a short prayer over each quilt, Lord, just use it where it needs to be used and send it to bless someone,” Livingston said.
Many Guild members belong to multiple quilting groups; some have rooms at home dedicated to their addictive avocation. In Livingston’s case, it’s an entire second house next door, aptly named Quilt Haven.
Quilters, it seems, are an enthusiastic, giving type. The Columbus-based Possum Town Quilters make a quilt for each Lowndes County Habitat for Humanity family, presented at the house dedication. The Maple Street Quilters in Columbus make quilts for the Red Cross, Safe Haven domestic violence shelter and recently, Louisiana flood victims. Others are donating quilts to fire departments, stitching baby blankets and chemo caps for hospitals, making cell phone bags on lanyards for a veterans’ home, even making dog beds for animal shelters.
Recipients, like the Oktibbeha County Sheriff’s Office, are appreciative.
“Most of the public don’t see what we see, what a bad accident or a fire can do to a person. (A quilt) can take their mind off of what just happened, even if for a minute,” said Griggs. “I really commend them. I think anything like these women doing these quilts, that’s awesome.”
Online
■ facebook.com/starkvillequilters
Jan Swoope is the Lifestyles Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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