Thank you to all the quilters who are taking part in the ãQuilters Comfort Americaä project to aid victims of Hurricane Katrina. In just a week and a half since the effort was announced, weâve received more than 9,500 quilts and 7,000 pieces of bedding and the number grows hourly. And the packages keep coming!

The first truckloads have already been taken to the George R. Brown Convention Center here in Houston, which is temporarily housing thousands of displaced persons. More will be sent in 18-wheeler trucks with other relief aid to hurricane victims in Mississippi. And the rest will be distributed to Houston-area shelters and churches working with evacuees including the Salvation Army, West Houston Assistance Ministries, First Baptist Mission Church, Memorial Drive Methodist Church, and the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

Thanks to your generosity, these evacuees who have lost everything will at least be able to sleep a little more comfortably, knowing that wherever they go, they can take with them a tactile embodiment of the kindness of a stranger. Quilters truly are some of the most generous, kindhearted people in the world!