Sheila Hoh of CEC’s Columbus office loves to sew and quilt. She has donated 12 bunk-size quilts each year to a local camp for seriously ill children called Flying Horse Farms (FHF) in Mt. Gilead, Ohio. At the end of the week of camp, the children take home their quilts. Sheila loves being able to indulge her sewing hobby while donating back to her community.
She got involved with the camp after reading a series of stories in the Columbus Dispatch about a local girl with brain cancer who wanted to go to camp at FHF. After a period of time, her doctor finally determined that she could attend. At the conclusion of the series, she wasn’t in remission but had a great outlook on life and bright hopes for her future. A few years later, the newspaper released an update: she’d had advances in treatment and more surgery, and the doctors had removed all the affected tissue. The girl was given a normal full life expectancy.
After reading the first series, Sheila looked at FHF’s website to see what she could do to help. She connected with a woman spearheading the sewing of blankets. After a couple of years, Snuggled in Hope got involved and changed the item from blankets to quilts. Concurrently, Sheila was also making smaller, baby-sized quilts and sending approximately six per year to Quilts for Kids (QFK) in Fairless Hills, Pennsylvania.
In addition to volunteering her time making these blankets and quilts, Sheila has volunteered for three FHF activities. She attended two of their Flyathons, held at a local Columbus park, in which kids would compete in a three-part marathon: biking, running, and then biking again. The third event was a “Hero Competition” in which kids ran a course and displayed their feats of strength on the FHF grounds. Sheila had so much fun cheering on the kids at all three events, especially seeing the kids receive their hero capes and wrist bands!
Pictured are some of Sheila’s incredible quilts. The one on the far right of the first photo was a dual donation; earlier this year when the Columbus office was collecting donations for Big Brothers Big Sisters (BBBS), Sheila volunteered to sell quilt blocks to raise money. The Columbus team raised $50 on selling blocks. BBBS received the donation and FHF received the quilt.
As a breast cancer survivor, Sheila knows the power of having family and friends behind you praying and wishing you well. She hopes her quilts will give each young child some comfort and memories of a great week at camp. After she retires, she plans to volunteer more with FHF and, of course, continue to donate quilts. Thank you for all that you do for these kids, Sheila!
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