Quilt shop serves the community impacted by Ruidoso wildfires
ALTO, N.M. (KRQE) – It’s been a little more than a month since the South Fork and Salt wildfires devastated the Ruidoso area. Now, residents are coming together to build back what was lost. Customers walk into Alto’s ‘A Quilting Stituation’ and leave with a heart full of gratitude as Ruidoso rebuilds in the wake of major wildfires.
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They are starting to rebuild but remember all that was lost in the South Fork and Salt wildfires. “I lost everything, clothes, a house, a car. We were out of town at the time. So, I had nothing,” said Ruidoso Resident Karen Switzer.
Switzer lost eight sewing machines and loads of material once stored in a big sewing room in her home. To recover what was lost, she went to a local quilt shop. “At least it was something I could take and have. Something I own,” said Switzer.
Jackie Lynn Hunter, owner of ‘A Quilting Stituation’, has seen the community step up and support each other. “So, we had a little boy come in here and they were picking out quilts. And he saw the afghans over there. Well, he had an afghan that he snuggled with every night on the couch,” said Hunter.
When the boy asked if he could have one of the handmade blankets and his mother asked Hunter, she said “of course”. “She’s like ‘You won’t believe this, but this is identical to the one we lost in the fire,” said Hunter.
That’s just one of the moments like these in the quilt shop. Going beyond just quilts, one single dad was greeted with an act of kindness. “My goodness, it choked me up to give her a hug when I had seen her because she took care of my little girls. She ended up getting them their bunk bed that my little girl is so ecstatic about,” said Nathan Valenzuela, a Ruidoso HVAC Technician.
That bunk bed was donated by Brenda Kasuboski. Even though she lost her own home in the wildfire. “I just, I couldn’t believe it, I mean I was shocked. I walked in there to get a quilt and I left with just a heart full of gratefulness for what people are doing and what she’s doing there,” said Ruidoso native Brenda Kasuboski.
Emotional moments from a simple store that’s become a hub of generosity. “And so, a quilt, they can wrap themselves in that. And they can know that they’re cared about even if they have nobody else around,” said Hunter.
In addition to quilts, the shop has also provided pillowcases, toiletries, clothes, furniture, and more to those in the community. The quilt shop is still asking for donations and is working with businesses around the Ruidoso area as they continue to rebuild.
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