Collegiate Times

Quilters, both locally and internationally, have found a common thread in a project remembering the victims of the shootings at Virginia Tech on April 16, 2007.

Project Hokie Hope has brought together quilt squares from hundreds of people to be made into 65 quilts for the families of both victims and survivors of the shootings.

Angelina Kendra, a 2003 Tech doctoral graduate of forestry, started Project Hokie Hope. Kendra was first inspired by e-mails sent out the day of the shootings from one of her professors, Bruce Hull, describing the power of social capital.

"Social capital is the knowledge, wisdom and traditions that can bring us as people together," Hull said.

Kendra described the project as an extension of what she had read and her discussions with Hull.

"I figured more people could do more than one (could)," Kendra said.

To organize the collection of squares, Kendra advertised the project on a variety of quilting Web sites and forums, while also creating a MySpace page to focus efforts on the project.

These solicitations successfully brought in 800 12-inch blocks.

The blocks were then organized in groups of 12 to create the final quilts.

Thirty-two of the quilts have been specially marked for families, while the remaining 32 will be randomly distributed to individual survivors.

While other monuments and memorials refrained from mentioning shooter Seung-Hui Cho, a remaining quilt from the project was created for Cho's family.

"It was a tragedy that their family has probably grieved more over than any other family, and it could've happened to any family," said Carolyn Moore, Blacksburg coordinator for Project Hokie Hope. "Many people have reached out to the Cho family saying, 'Let's not forget about their family.'"

Perhaps even more surprising than the large number of squares sent in for the project was the wide range of locations that contributed.

On the domestic end, quilt squares came from states as far away as California, Texas and Washington, while international quilt squares came in from Japan, Australia and Germany.

"It's absolutely wonderful that they did this, and everybody around the world cared," said Debbie Phillips, a Radford resident and 1985 Tech graduate who came to see the quilt for Jarrett Lane, a victim of the shootings.

"It's not like it's so sad, it's just they're so beautiful and you realized that so many people cared that it's great to see it, " Phillips said.

The completed project was on display at Blacksburg Church of Christ from Sept. 26 to Sept. 29, where community members had a chance to take a look at the finished products.

Those assisting with the display were happy with visitor responses to the quilts.

"It's so much more than they expected," said Rhonda Brewer, assistant coordinator with the Blacksburg display. "The detail and the difference and the creativity in each block is great."

With the Blacksburg exhibition finished, the job now falls on Tech's Office of Recovery and Support to deliver the quilts. The office is using a variety of methods to get the quilts to their intended recipients.

"Our plan is to personally deliver as many of them as possible," said Debbie Day, director of the Office of Recovery and Support.  

Last week officials delivered a quilt to the family of Ross Alameddine, as well as to the family of an unnamed survivor.

Officials within the office are looking to have all the quilts distributed in the next several months.