Bill and Heather Fagervik holding one of the many quilts donated to Fort McMurray. Bill is driving the quilts to Edmonton today, June 29, in the SUV, which is filled to the roof with quilts and blankets.

(BRENDAN KERGIN / iNFOnews.ca)

KAMLOOPS - Fort McMurray is about to receive a warm donation thanks to a Kamloops woman.

Heather Fagervik, co-owner of Heather’s Fabric Shop in Brocklehurst, has collected hundreds of quilts and blankets to send to Fort McMurray residents as they recover from May’s wildfire.

“When we heard what was happening up in Fort McMurray we decided we wanted to help in some way,” she says. “I put the word out ‘Anybody got a quilt and want to donate? Bring it on in'.”

The response to Fagervik’s call for quilts was dramatic with quilts and blankets arriveing from across B.C., including places as far as Terrace, the Kootenays and Vancouver Island.

“We have Logan Lake, Barriere, 100 Mile House,” she says. “We had right down to Oliver, we had some donations up out of Vernon, we had them from Chase, we had them from Kelowna.”

They’re being driven to Edmonton by her husband Bill today, June 29. Once there, they’ll be handed over to the organization Quilts for Fort McMurray, which will distribute them to residents of Fort McMurray.

“We have over 200 quilts going up to Fort McMurray,” she says. "My husband will not be bringing the Smart Car.”

All the quilts are all handmade, something that takes an intermediate quilter about a week to make for a double or queen-sized one, Fagervik says. They’re not cheap either — each queen-sized quilt costs a few hundred dollars in materials. All the quilts and blankets were hand delivered as well.

“People actually made trips to bring these quilts in, we received none by mail,” she says. “I’m really blown with the number of quilts that came in. They’re still coming in. A woman was hammering on my door at 9 a.m. (today).”

A variety of sizes and styles were donated, Fagervik notes.

“We also have about 30 to 40 knitted or crocheted blankets for the people as well, if someone would prefer that,” she says.

One woman, who isn’t able to make quilts anymore, donated a few hundred dollars worth of material to the cause. Those materials have already been turned into a finished quilt and is headed to Fort McMurray as well.

“I was just amazed, I was not expecting this,” Fagervik says. “It shows a lot about people. People really do have good hearts, they want to do something good, you just have to help them do good.“

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