Quilting (and Sewing) for a Cause
I don’t know about you, but I love a good excuse to sew—especially when it’s for a good cause! There’s something so rewarding about turning fabric and thread into something that brings comfort, warmth, or even a little joy to someone in need. And let’s be honest, sometimes we just need a reason to dig into our fabric stash (because we all know it’s not getting any smaller on its own!).
If you’ve ever wondered, “Where can I donate my quilts, fabric scraps, or handmade items?”, you’re in the right place. Whether you love quilting, sewing clothing, or whipping up small projects, there are so many organizations that would love to receive your handmade goodness. From quilts for veterans to blankets for shelter pets, and even dresses for children around the world—there’s a perfect cause for every kind of maker.
Let’s make something to make a difference!
Please note: I will also update this as I find new organizations to add. Please contact me if you have additions you think I should make to this list.
Donate Quilts
To access the links to the organizations, just click on the bold underlined title.
Project Linus: Project Linus provides handmade blankets to children in need, offering warmth, comfort, and security. Volunteers, known as “Blanketeers,” create quilts, fleece blankets, and afghans for children facing illness, trauma, or other hardships.
Quilts of Valor: Quilts of Valor (QOV) honors and comforts U.S. military service members and veterans by awarding them handmade quilts. Each quilt is a tangible expression of gratitude for their service and sacrifice.
Operation First Response: Operation First Response (OFR) supports wounded military personnel and their families with financial assistance, transportation, and emotional support. While not a quilting organization, many quilters contribute by making blankets or fundraising for OFR’s cause.
Layers of Hope Quilting 911: Layers of Hope – Quilting 911 provides handmade quilts to 911 dispatchers and their families who have experienced personal loss or trauma. The organization recognizes the unseen emotional toll of emergency dispatchers and offers quilts as a gesture of appreciation and support.
Quilts Beyond Boarders: Quilts Beyond Borders provides handmade quilts to children and adults living in underserved communities worldwide, including orphans, refugees, and those facing poverty. Volunteers create and donate quilts to bring warmth and comfort.
Snuggle Project: The Snuggle Project provides handmade blankets and quilts to babies in neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) and children in hospitals. The soft, comforting quilts offer warmth to both infants and their families during challenging times.
Victoria’s Quilts Canada: Victoria’s Quilts Canada donates handmade quilts to individuals in Canada who are undergoing cancer treatment. Each quilt is made with love and care, offering warmth and encouragement during a difficult journey.
Binky Patrol: Binky Patrol is a volunteer-driven organization that provides handmade blankets (called "binkies") to children and teens in need, including those experiencing illness, trauma, or homelessness. The blankets offer warmth and reassurance.
Wrap Them in Love: Wrap Them in Love collects and distributes handmade quilts to children in orphanages, shelters, and hospitals worldwide. The quilts serve as a source of love, comfort, and security for children in difficult situations.
Snuggles Project: The Snuggles Project encourages volunteers to sew, knit, or crochet small blankets (called "Snuggles") for animals in shelters. These blankets provide warmth and comfort, helping animals feel more secure while waiting for adoption.
The Aliveness Project: The Aliveness Project supports people living with HIV/AIDS by providing nutrition, wellness services, and community support. While not sewing-focused, handmade items like quilts and warm clothing are often donated to support their mission.
Sleep in Heavenly Peace: Sleep in Heavenly Peace builds and delivers beds to children who don’t have one. Volunteers construct wooden beds and provide bedding, including handmade quilts and blankets, to ensure every child has a comfortable place to sleep.
Donate Homemade Menstrual Pads and Kits
To access the links to the organizations, just click on the bold underlined title.
Days for Girls: Days for Girls is a global nonprofit dedicated to increasing access to menstrual care and education. Volunteers sew reusable menstrual kits to help girls and women manage their periods with dignity, empowering them to stay in school, work, and participate fully in their communities.
Sew Powerful: Sew Powerful focuses on fighting extreme poverty through sewing. Volunteers create purses that are filled with reusable feminine hygiene supplies and distributed to girls in Zambia, enabling them to stay in school and receive an education.
The Pachamama Project: The Pachamama Project is a volunteer-led initiative that makes reusable menstrual pads for refugees and women in need. The organization helps provide sustainable period products while reducing period poverty.
The Sanitary Pad Project: The Sanitary Pad Project creates reusable menstrual pads for people in need, helping to combat period poverty. Volunteers sew and donate fabric pads to ensure better access to menstrual care for girls and women in underserved communities.
Donate Handmade Children Dresses/Clothing
To access the links to the organizations, just click on the bold underlined title.
Little Dresses for Africa: Little Dresses for Africa provides handmade dresses to children in Africa and beyond, offering dignity and hope. Volunteers sew simple pillowcase-style dresses that are distributed through orphanages, churches, and community groups.
Operation Dress A Girl: Operation Dress A Girl is part of the Dress A Girl Around the World initiative, which aims to provide handmade dresses to girls in need. Each dress is sewn with care and helps protect girls from exploitation while giving them a sense of worth.
Texas Avenue Community Church is looking for/collecting dresses and shorts for little kids. This referral came from a Facebook post on my Facebook page. Their website doesn’t have a link for the specifics, but I am working on gathering the information.
Donate Small Hand Sewn Items
To access the links to the organizations, just click on the bold underlined title.
Operation Christmas Child: Operation Christmas Child, a project of Samaritan’s Purse, delivers shoebox gifts filled with toys, hygiene items, school supplies, and handmade gifts to children worldwide. Many quilters and sewists contribute handmade items like dolls, clothing, and blankets.
Ryan’s Case for Smiles: Ryan’s Case for Smiles provides bright, cheerful pillowcases to children battling life-changing illnesses and injuries. The organization helps bring comfort and emotional support to children and their families during hospital stays.
Knitted Knockers (knitting, but I wanted to include this): Knitted Knockers provides soft, hand-knit or crocheted breast prostheses for women who have undergone mastectomies. These lightweight, comfortable alternatives to traditional prosthetics help restore confidence and dignity.
The Lydia Project: The Lydia Project provides free emotional and financial support to women facing cancer. Volunteers create handmade tote bags filled with encouraging messages and practical items to uplift women during their cancer journey.
Dolls for Hope: Dolls for Hope donates handmade dolls and stuffed animals to children in need worldwide. The organization provides comfort and companionship to children in orphanages, shelters, and underserved communities.
Comfort Cases: Comfort Cases provides backpacks filled with essentials like pajamas, blankets, and toiletries to children entering the foster care system. Many sewists contribute handmade blankets and stuffed animals to help provide comfort during a difficult transition.
