Donor families in the Northwest now have an opportunity to create a lasting tribute to their loved ones. A donor memorial quilt has been created and over 75 donor families have made quilt squares to begin the project.

Donor families exhibited unique ways to memorialize loved
ones in the quilt.

The Northwest Tissue Services, Northwest Lions Eye Bank and LifeCenter Northwest Donor Network are working together to expand the quilt. Families who attended the annual Donor Family Gatherings in November (see story above) participated in the first quilt-pinning ceremony. Many families who could not attend submitted squares that were on display at the ceremony.

The quilt squares will now be assembled into several panels that will be on display at public and professional education events. Many families wrote stories about their loved ones, about their quilt squares and about how those squares memorialized their loved ones. The quilt will be a way to make people aware of the importance of tissue, organ and eye donation not only as a way of helping others but also as a way of healing during a time of loss.

The project will be ongoing, with an opportunity for families to pin their squares on a quilt at the annual ceremony. The squares will be put together into quilts once a year. The first assembled quilts should be available for display by early summer.

For information on the quilt, please contact Shari Fowler at (206) 292-1887 or by e-mail at sharif@psbc.org.