Fundraising quilts are a time-honored tradition. I am raffling this quilt as a means of raising money for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society charity.

I chose this charity because my mother has been a victim of MS for the past 23 years.

Not only has MS touched my life as a result of my mother's diagnosis, but it seems to be everywhere i turn. A woman I first met as a result of the Poetry and Short Story contest I conducted on the Usenet newsgroup alt.gothic in 1995 was diagnosed this year. One of my fellow events promoters also has a mother with MS. The list goes on... The life-partner of the old bartender for my event Death Rattle. The wife of a vendor I met at Convergence 5 in New Orleans. The father of a close friend. It's there, encroaching on the edges of my world like the black, crumbling burned edges of paper pulled from the fire. And I refuse to do nothing.

It is my hope that by raffling this quilt as a means of fundraising, I will be able to make a difference, however small. The nature of the quilt is one of community...it was made out to the support and trust and commitment and creativity and resourcefulness and expressiveness and dedication of women who are on a basic level, strangers to me, yet also quite dear. We all stitched our hearts into these blocks, and the swap was a little union of fellowship among far-flung women with the quilter's skill in common.

The raffle has ended and the winner is Mina Rose Robertson!!

Thank you to everyone for your donations. The total raised was $1815!

Because your ePledges go directly through the NMSS New England Chapter website, you are assured that your raffle donations are going directly to the charity.

No one involved with the quilt raffle has access to your donation funds or your credit card information.