Harriett Erickson, 88, lives at Luther Community Manor in Alpena, a HUD-subsidized senior apartment community. She has worked with a group of quilters at nearby Immanuel Lutheran Church since 2006. Each of the 10 to 15 members of the quilters group has a job: some cut material, some tie, some finish the edges. Harriett sews the pieces together. She recently completed her 221^st quilt top. The group donates their quilts to local people in need, such as families that have had a house fire. They also send their quilts all over the world through Lutheran World Relief. The group’s quilts have gone to Hurricane Katrina victims and to soldiers in Afghanistan. Some of the people who receive the quilts have nothing, says Harriett. Soldiers especially appreciate these handmade “comforts from home.”

Kids love playing with toilet paper, so what could be more fun than building a tower out of toilet paper rolls? That was the project of the week for the kids in Vacation Bible School at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Mt. Pleasant. Dorothy Fetting is the LSSM ambassador for the church. She suggested the idea because she knew that LSSM's In-Home Services clients need a variety of cleaning supplies. Tammy Hynes, regional director of In-Home Services, took her van to pick up the dozens of donated rolls last Friday. About 30 children, from kindergarten through sixth grade, participated in the drive. Some of the rolls were given to LSSM's group homes in the Midland area. (Do you have cleaning supplies to donate? Contact Tammy Hynes to arrange for pickup or delivery.)