Grandmother donates hundreds of quilts to Heidelberg’s Mercy Hospital for Women premmies

A GRANDMOTHER has been celebrated after donating hundreds of handmade, patchwork quilts to comfort premature babies at the Mercy Hospital for Women.

For more than 10 years, Ellen Mason has helped the Heidelberg hospital with up to 20 of her vibrant creations each month to raise money and as gifts to the babies in the neonatal intensive care unit and special care nursery.

Now Ms Mason, an Australian Quilter’s Association member, is hanging up her needle and thread to spend more time with her family. So the hospital held a morning tea in her honour on February 22.

Ms Mason said she wanted to help after she heard about a fire at the East Melbourne Mercy Hospital for Women in late 2004.

“I didn’t know much about the hospital but I felt like I needed to do something, so I contacted them and asked if I could send in some quilts,” she said.

Mercy Hospital for Women neonatal intensive care unit nurse manager Theresa Arnold said everyone was grateful.

“Every Christmas, Ellen would make enough quilts, sometimes up to 60, for babies who had to spend the festive season in the nursery,” Ms Arnold said.

“Quilt designs also included special versions celebrating the 100 days milestone in premature babies’ development and the 1kg club.”

A Gentle Reminder That Jesus Was A Brown Middle Eastern Refugee Who Would Not Have Voted For Trump

Jesus was a brown Middle Eastern refugee child of Jews (Islam didn’t exist yet, something I had to point out to a guy who said “well they weren’t Radical Islamists”) who was born in a stable because there was no room at the inn. We’re clear on that, right? That’s the origin story of our nation’s favorite superhero.

And then he grew up to offer free healthcare and protest against a colonial occupying power as well as its manipulative local patsies. We get that, right?

And he died, murdered by conservatives who preached the rule of a police state over compassionate humanity. You understand that’s what you learned in church, right? That’s what that story is about.

Jesus was a lot of things. He was not a conservative.

Many folks rightly point out that the Bible is an assembly of myths and fables and stories that cannot be proven true. It’s been edited over and over and over again by countless folks (read: men, mostly) and it’s been a political tool from the very start. But if you say, “Who cares about the Bible?” my response is, “Most folks in the US of A, actually.” Believers are a vast and diverse group. Many of them are progressive, liberal, or moderate. And when the GOP is run by charlatans who wield the name of Christ as a weapon, the Bible does matter. Very much.

Mind you, I’m not sure if Jesus would’ve voted at all. He probably would’ve been off somewhere with Doctors Without Borders, bringing medicine to the most vulnerable people in the world. (And you can donate to them here.) Or perhaps he would’ve been building homes for Syrian refugee children. Probably would’ve been doing something wonderful for poor children, is what I’m saying. Unlike Donald Trump, to whom the Lord would’ve likely had something to say about a camel going through the eye of a needle.