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CNN Live Today
Quilting Fundraiser Providing Comfort for September 11 Victims
Aired March 11, 2002 - 13:57 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Many families of the victims of September 11 in New York and Washington can look forward to gifts of physical and emotional comfort from the state of Wisconsin. Jeff Flock is in Oshkosh observing the Quilts for America project. Sounds very interesting. Jeff, good afternoon.
JEFF FLOCK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good afternoon to you, Bill. You know, everyone around the country has tried to contribute in some way. And we are in a beehive of activity here, sort of a quilting beehive of activity.
Take a look. There are people here -- this program is designed to make quilts for the families of those who lost loved one. You can see them in everything from Japanese to English, all sorts of messages being put on little squares and then they're brought over and made sewn in as part of quilts. And as I said, the vision is to give each family that lost a loved one on September 11 a quilt that will kind of mark that in some way.
And I want to ask some of the people what caused them to get involved.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I actually heard about this in one of my classes, from my teacher. And...
FLOCK: Why did you decide to get involved?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I got excited about it, and then I thought my sorority sisters would really like to getting involved. So I had Marianne (ph) go and talk to my fraternity.
FLOCK: And you are at the University of Wisconsin, Oshkosh. Let's take a look at some of these things. Rick, I don't know if you are able to see it. This is a Brownie troop where everyone -- all the little girls have made handprints and other people have even come to the University of Wisconsin here at Oshkosh and simply just make a message and sew it into the quilt. And this young lady here will help you sew it together. What possessed you to do this?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I wanted to get involved with my sorority to do something with the September 11 events. It kind of had a tragedy effect on all of us.
FLOCK: And you're sort of sewing your fingers to the bone there. What have you got on this one? Show me what you've got.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This one, we're doing an American flag pattern. And then we have people right here at the university coming through our union and making different designs. So we are sewing those together to make them into quilts.
FLOCK: Very neat. I want to find, if I can, the lady that organized this whole project. I think she is over here. I'm going to try to interrupt if I can in the middle of her conversation there. This was your brainchild, yes?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, it was, mine and my daughter's.
FLOCK: What possessed you -- well, how did you come with this idea and why?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We were making quilts for Christmas for our families on the day it happened. And that night, while we were watching the news, we looked at each other and said, these have got to go East. And that's where it went.
FLOCK: How many have you got and how many do you have to make?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We've gotten about 150 and we have to make 3,000 because we are going to cover everybody.
FLOCK: All right.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you.
FLOCK: You better get sewing. Marianne (ph), thank you. I appreciate it very much.
That is the latest. Perhaps you can see just one little slice of how people are trying to get involved, now six months to the day since September 11. Back to you, Bill.
HEMMER: Good deal. Jeff, thanks. Jeff Flock there reporting from Wisconsin.
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