'A hug': Group donates quilts to RCMP to help people impacted by trauma

Victims of crime wrapped in care of community A pandemic project near Swan River is donating handmade blankets to RCMP to give comfort during a traumatic time.

What started as a pandemic project for quilters in Manitoba has grown into a project helping people in need.

Jocelyn Marchuk is a quilter from Bowsman, Man. and last year, she challenged quilters who attended her retreats to donate their creations to the Children’s Hospital.

By the end of that project, they had donated 22 quilts.

"We're not a guild, we're not a specific organization, we're just a group of ladies that gets together every week,” Marchuk said. “And for retreats, and we just have fun and enjoy each other's company."

This year, the group chose the RCMP in Swan River to receive the quilts as officers will often use blankets to place over victims experiencing trauma.

"As soon as they wrap someone in a quilt, whether it be you know, they've been in a bad accident or something like that, as soon as they feel that, that it's almost like a hug from the quilt,” Marchuk said. “It takes that - I don't want to call it pressure - but it just calms them and just makes the situation a little bit easier."

A total of 31 quilts are being donated to RCMP, and people in the community have been donating money to help cover costs.

“They actually just stepped forward, and they heard by the grapevine that we were doing this and they donated to that cause so that's awesome,” Marchuk said.

Marchuk plans to continue the project with her next group of quilters but they haven’t yet decided who will receive the finished items.