Seeking red fabric, paintbrushes, and more! (before March 8th)

As you may know, Community Forklift provides support to many local nonprofits each year through our outreach & education activities, and our material grants. Recently, we were connected with a Hyattsville resident who is organizing a workshop for the art-activist Monument Quilt Project.

The Monument Quilt is a public healing space by, and for, survivors of rape and abuse; it’s an ongoing collection of their stories. Written, stitched, and painted onto red fabric, their stories are displayed in city and town centers to create and demand public space to heal. The quilt resists the popular and narrow narrative of how sexual violence occurs by telling many stories, not one. The quilt builds a new culture where survivors are publicly supported, rather than publicly shamed. Their ultimate goal is to display the quilt on the national mall in 2018.

We are excited to partner with such a meaningful organization! We will be collecting donations on their behalf for the next few weeks. They need:

• Large portions of red fabric (big enough that they can make 4-foot by 4-foot squares)
• Assorted fabric scraps of any size/color/design
• Sharpies and/or fabric markers
• Acrylic and/or spray paint
• Paint brushes
• Stencils
• Smocks/old shirts (adult sizes only)
• Fabric glue

Please note:

• We will only be accepting these items through March 8th. 

• Materials may be dropped off at Community Forklift’s donations bay, which is in front of our building at 4671 Tanglewood Drive, Edmonston, MD 20781 (5 minutes from Hyattsville).
• Donations will be accepted during regular warehouse hours, but you must arrive at least 30 minutes before closing. We are open 7 days a week from 9am – 6 pm, and we are now open till 7pm on Wednesday & Friday.

For more information about the project, visit TheMonumentQuilt.Org