An Appleton woman, who lost her daughter to a heroin overdose, is starting a new project to raise awareness of the dangers of drugs and to encourage people to get treatment.
Megan Kelley died in April 2015 at the age of 22. Since then, her mom, Bev, has been sharing her story with teens in area schools in an effort to help them from making the same, deadly mistake.
Now, Bev is asking the public to create cloth squares in honor of people who have battled addiction. The squares will be used to make a quilt that she's calling Wisconsin Sharing without Shame.
"Nobody wants their kid to be forgotten and many of them were taken in their 20's and 30's," explains Bev.
There are four quilt square colors. Red is for those in active addiction. White is for those in recovery. Gray represents people who are in jail, and black is in honor of those who lost their lives to an overdose.
The quilt squares are due by August 22nd. The final quilt will be on display at the Lights of Hope event on September 11th. It starts at 6:00pm in City Park at 500 E. Franklin Street in Appleton.
The quilt square must be 5" x 5". Be sure to allow for 1/4" seam. You're asked to use cotton fabric, but no puffy paint, glitter or stickers.
You can write your story and submit your quilt square to:
Bev Kelley-Miller
W728 River Bend Drive
Kaukauna, WI 54130
Questions can be emailed to kelleyb75@live.com
Bev hopes to make the quilt into a moving memorial that will travel the state with her important message.
