Delivering cuddles

Last Friday Di B and I delivered three bags full of ‘cuddles’, around 40 child-sized quilts, to the KU Marcia Burgess Autism Specific Early Learning & Care Centre, now affectionately known as “The Marcia”, at Liverpool on Sydney’s fringe.

It’s been more than a year since we’ve made a visit, but as always we were greeted as part of the family and Margie (in reception) and Netti (the Director) were so warm and generous in their praise of our St Mark’s Quilters and the beautiful quilts they’ve made for the children attending the kindy.

Every little one gets to choose a quilt to keep for themself, and Netti told us how thrilled and moved the kindy parents were to receive our quilts.

(L to R) Netti, me and Di B

There was even a pretty “thank you” note for us all, and an Autism Awareness ribbon pin which we had never seen before.

Like us, you’ve probably seen other awareness ribbons, for example pink (breast cancer), red (AIDS) and sky blue (prostate cancer) to name a few. The Autism Awareness ribbon consists of multicoloured puzzle pieces, and has an interesting story.

The puzzle pattern of this ribbon reflects the mystery and complexity of autism.

The different colors and shapes represent the diversity of people and families living with this disorder.

The brightness of this logo represents hope – hope through research and increasing awareness in people like you.

Because having a couple of strangers in their midst could potentially upset the children in their secure environment we aren’t able to see the children when we visit, but we hear about their progress in general terms (no names) from Netti.

This time we shared her excitement when she told us several of the children had progressed into the mainstream school system. Small victories, but a huge cause for celebration.

It might not sound a big deal to most of us, but just imagine a 4 year old autistic child finally being able to say “I love you” to a parent for the very first time.

That’s the kind of miracle they’re striving for at The Marcia, and it’s a privilege to be part of this as we deliver quilty ‘cuddles’ from the St Mark’s Quilters.

Di