About us
“ A Hope Chest can provide a treasure chest filled with memories of the past and hope and dreams for the future.”
A Message From the Director
Margaret’s Hope Chest was born out of tragedy. What else could you call the senseless murder of an 80-year old woman in a grocery store parking lot? Margaret Herrema was my Grandmother. She lived a full and generous life as a wife of 57 years, a mother to 5, grandmother to 17, and great-grandmother to 8. She found additional joy serving others through her volunteer sewing work. Imagine our family’s shock when on April 28, 2005 she was pushed to the ground in a struggle over her purse and suffered a massive head injury. She died two days later on April 30. It would have been easy to lose hope and despair in human kind’s potential for evil. During this time I remember reading Romans 12:12-13, “Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Share with God’s people who are in need.” By the grace of God and the guidance of this verse I was able to see past my own pain and confusion and look out upon a world filled with countless other hopeless people - people who were in the middle of equally painful circumstances. Margaret’s Hope Chest is a blending of two passions in my life - quilting and helping to spread God’s hope in a broken world. Join me in my pursuit to bring hope to Grand Rapids, one quilt at a time.
HopeFULL until Christ’s return,
Carin Vogelzang
Director and Founder of Margaret’s Hope Chest
How Margaret’s Hope Chest Works:
Quilts are created one of three ways:
- People donate new and clean, 100% cotton fabrics. Cutting volunteers cut the fabrics according to the desired pattern and assemble a kit, complete with pattern, batting, thread and backing fabric. Kits are distributed to quilting volunteers who sew and finish the quilts and then mail or drop off the finished quilt at our “home base.”
- Quilting guilds, church quilting groups or individuals use their own fabrics to create a quilt of their own design.
- Gently used homemade (not store bought) quilts can also be donated.
Quilts will be donated to individuals one of three ways:
- Recipients will be referred to Margaret’s Hope Chest by a third party agency like the American Red Cross or the Salvation Army.
- Recipients will be referred to Margaret’s Hope Chest by our “eyes and ears” around town. (For full description see the Ways to Help page)
- From time to time, the director might choose a group or organization to donate a certain number of quilts to. This will be announced on the website, via e-mail and postal mail.
