"Don't abandon me" were the three words spoken by a nameless, homeless person to Mrs. Flo Wheatley of Hop Bottom, Pennsylvania, after he helped her and her 14-year-old son Leonard in New York City in 1979. Leonard was receiving treatments for cancer in the city, and they were on their way to a relative's home in Queens when he nearly collapsed. Flo realized that the homeless man saw she needed help and gave it.

This incident was the inspiration for My Brother's Keeper Quilt Project which makes sleeping bag quilts from unwanted clothing and material and distributes them to the homeless to keep warm. The quilts were called "ugly quilts" so that the volunteers would not be intimidated by the quilting part.

In 1993, Florence Campbell of Owego saw Mrs. Wheatley demonstrate how to make an "ugly quilt." Florence thought, "we can do that," and she brought the idea to the Owego United Methodist Church. Later that year, Mrs. Wheatley came to Owego and showed how to make the quilts.

Since then, there's been no stopping the approximately 15 women who gather once a week in Owego's Fellowship Hall to stitch unwanted fabric into quilts which they then distribute to the homeless and needy in New York State. They've made two changes to Mrs. Wheatley's original conception: they changed the name of their quilts and no longer fold and stitch the quilts into sleeping bags.

In 1994, the manager of the Rescue Mission in Syracuse asked if the quilts could be called something other than "ugly quilts" which had a negative connotation. The Owego quilters chose a new name for their project: "Cozy Quilts."

At this same time, Florence saw pictures of a homeless person on the grates in New York City trying to keep warm. She noticed that with his boots and clothes, he would probably have a difficult time getting into a sleeping bag. Florence thought it would be easier if he had a quilt to wrap himself in. She called Father Taylor of the Rescue Mission in New York and told him of her idea. He thought it was a great idea because he could also use the quilts on the mission's cots, which he could not do with the sleeping bags.

The quilts made by the Owego group are 6' by 6'. The top and bottom layers are pieced from fabric remnants. Old blankets, mattress pads, or old bedspreads are used as the batting. The quilts are tied with crochet thread.

Since 1994, the Cozy Quilts project in Owego has made 1430 quilts which have been donated to the Open Door Missions in Owego and Rochester, the Hope House in Owego, the Rescue Mission in Syracuse, and the VA Hospital in Bath. The quilts were also distributed to the Rescue Mission in New York City until 1995 when the group lost their contact there.

The Cozy Quilt group creates about 10 quilts a week. All of the material is donated. With each quilt, the group includes some clothes, socks, a cap, a religious booklet, soap, and shampoo. "This is put inside the quilt and rolled up like a bedroll," said Florence.

If you would like to donate any material to the Cozy Quilt Project, Cindy's Fabrics at 22 Cafferty Hill Road in Endicott is sponsoring a fabric collection from Saturday, January 17 through Friday, January 23. (Note, Cindy's Fabrics is open Wednesday - Saturday, from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm.) The Cozy Quilt Group is looking for any kind of fabric - cotton, polyester, wool, rayon, upholstery - in large pieces (approximately 3' x 3'). They would also like donations of old gloves, socks, neckties (used to tie the bedroll), and any yarn.