Extra fabric left over from years of quilting leads to large gift

By Adam Chalifoux
MOORHEAD, Minn. -- Charlie Grommesh knew it was time to clear out the yards and yards of extra fabric in his garage. But the question was: What to do with it?

The remnants were left over from Charlie’s wife’s decades long mission to make quilts and give them away, many of which ended up going to Churches United’s emergency shelter now known as Micah’s Mission in Moorhead, Minn.

And Charlie wanted to part ways with the fabric in a way that not only others benefited, but also in a way that he could pay tribute to his dear wife, Hellen who now resides in a memory care facility.

So Charlie offered up the fabric on a pay-as-you-can sale out of his garage this past weekend, raising a sum in four figures that he stopped in to donate at Micah’s Mission this week.

“Last weekend we had a sale, and it was ‘you tell us what you want to pay for it, it’s going to Churches United…’” said Grommesh. “I just knew that if we sold her fabric, if she knew it, that’s what she would want to do.”

Grommesh said that Churches United holds a dear spot in their hearts that goes back decades. It began with their service to others in Micah’s Mission’s kitchen.

“My wife Hellen and I, we used to serve meals here for years,” said Grommesh. “Hellen and I would go buy the groceries and come cook.”

Charlie and his wife Hellen are members of St. Joseph Catholic Church in Moorhead. Apart from volunteering in the kitchen, Hellen was also a member of a small group dedicated to giving back in a unique way.

“My wife and her sisters made 5,000 quilts and gave them all away,” said Grommesh.

The quilts would go to various charitable organizations, hospitals, and other worthy causes.

“And they brought some over here one time, and they said, ‘Well, we have a group that quilts here. So they joined that group,” Grommish said. “And the women in that group got so old they retired. So, Hellen, her sister, and her cousin made quilts at home and half the quilts they were making at that time, they would bring them here.”

While the quilting group operated over 20 years ago, the extra fabric remained in Charlie and Hellen’s garage until this past weekend.

And in one weekend, Charlie and his family raised nearly $2,000, providing one last gift from a quilting group that still is woven into the fabric of Churches United and the community we serve.

Churches United was founded in 1987 in the heart of downtown Moorhead in a former Lutheran church. In 2019, Churches United merged with the Dorothy Day organization, also located in Moorhead.

Today, Churches United operates four facilities, an emergency shelter, standalone food pantry and two permanent support housing apartment complexes, all of which are located in Moorhead. The agency serves more than 500 people every single day by sheltering, housing them, feeding them and ensuring their needs are met.