Every Monday, Phenix Presbyterian Church plays host to a special group of quilters who give back to the community in a big way.

The group, known as the South Central Parrish Quilters, has been together for 19 years and has donated numerous quilts to help citizens and organizations across the area.

According to quilter Linda Vogt, “faces change and we lose people.” However, she said the group has remained a constant fixture within the community.

The quilters come together each week to construct handmade quilts with complex patterns to benefit the community.

The organization has donated quilts to the Wounded Warrior project, The Barksdale Cancer Foundation and The Trucker’s Parade Against Cancer to name a few, according to Vogt.

In addition, lap quilts are also made for the sick and shut-in members of the community. Currently, the group is working on a quilt that will be donated to the Brookneal Library and raffled off. 

Vogt said she remembers when several members of the group joined and were not familiar with the art of quilting.

“I don’t even know how to sew, but I like to quilt,” said group member Mary Tucker. 

Tucker said she has been a member of the group for the past eight years.

“It’s therapy,” she said.

Another quilter, Cookie Milton, said she was one of the founding members when the group was first introduced.

“We get together and laugh,” Milton said.

According to Milton, some of the fabric used to construct the quilts is oftentimes donated. However, “what we have to buy, we have to pay for,” she said. Occasionally, the group will raffle off a quilt to raise funds to support their efforts.

Tucker said their quilts have been sold as far away as England, California and Massachusetts.

“I know we’ve made six or seven where people have requested them,” Milton said.

In March, just one month after an EF-3 tornado struck the Evergreen community in Appomattox County, the quilters came to the rescue. According to quilter Evelyn Vandergrift, the group donated a total of 38 quilts to help victims during the aftermath.

“It was very satisfying,” Vandergrift said. “It was so close to home.”

Vogt said the quilters meet each Monday at the church regardless of holidays, rain or shine. They spend all day together, working diligently and only stopping to enjoy a covered dish lunch together.