When Sheri Kenyon was asked to create quilts for terminally ill children at Mary Bridge Hospital in Tacoma, she had no idea she was taking part in an effort organized by Bellevue resident, Carla Jensen. For nearly 30 years, Jensen has provided food, clothing, organizing donations and giving service to multiple charitable organizations.
Jensen’s service initially began when her friend and neighbor, Karen Ridlon started Eastside Baby Corner.
“We didn’t have clothes, blankets, bedding—nothing,” explained Ridlon. “Needs start when a family has a baby that needs to be kept warm.”
That week, Jensen purchased the batting and material, hand-stitching quilts for Rildon to distribute. As Eastside Baby Corner expanded to include clothing and food for, so did Jensen’s donations.
She asked women from her church to create quilts, make bedding and towels, and give donations of gently used clothing. When requests exceeded the capacity of the her own congregation, she spread the word further, to multiple churches in Bellevue, then to each neighboring city up and down the Eastside corridor.
This month alone, over 500 quilts were made by the Bellevue South Stake of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints for the terminally ill children at Mary Bridge. Last month. The month before, it was bedding. Prior to that, towels.
It wasn’t just her church that she called upon.
“Carla has organized women in many faith-based organizations to assist in producing items for our charity,” explained Helen Banks Routon, Director of Development and Community for Eastside Baby Corner. Thanks to Jensen’s efforts, the Corner has received “thousands of beautiful quilts and bed sets,” Routon estimates, “and that doesn’t include all the other types of things like clothing, nor just to us.”
Jensen’s work with another non-profit, Hopelink, began when a 50-pound bag of frosting needed to be repackaged. Jensen’s name was on a list of volunteers, and by the end of the call, Jensen had figured out how to repackage the food into usable portions. At the time, Jensen had a business making food mixes, and used her connections to negotiate bulk donations with wholesalers of beans and other foods for the center.
She also spread the word about the agency’s needs, and convinced many retailers to provide in-kind purchases.
The first year Jensen purchased holiday gifts for Hopelink clients, she “explained the cause and asked for a discount so she could buy more gifts,” revealed Barbara Whitehurst, the Major Gifts and Planned Giving Manager at Hopelink. “It more than doubled what we received, and it wouldn’t have been possible if she hadn’t been such an incredible advocate.
Like Eastside Baby Corner, Hopelink has received thousands of handmade items from Jensen’s vast network of women.
An Angel from Above
No one may ever know the extent of Jensen’s service work. Jensen is a modest, private woman with no desire for attention and reluctantly agreed to provide information on her service. “It’s not me,” she says quietly, referring the conversation back to the needs of the community.
She’s never counted the number of items created or delivered to the many organizations she serves. Many times, she doesn’t even identify herself when she drops off a van full of clothing.
“She just pulls up, opens the truck, the volunteer lifts out bag after bag and she leaves,” said Routon. “No one would ever know it’s Carla unless one of us sees her.”
Jensen also has a knack for showing up when times are toughest.
Routon recalled an incident this last winter, when the need for food, clothing and bare necessities spiked from unemployment and the housing crisis. Neither media attention nor calls to the community had replenished supplies in the 4,000-foot warehouse.
“We were pretty desperate,” said Routon. “Then without any fanfare, there’s Carla, with a load of clothing and food,” said Routon. “She’s our little angel that shows up when we need her.”
Jensen’s generosity isn’t limited to the local charities.
Linda Benson, director of Hopelink, recalled going to Jensen’s home to work on gift baskets for an auction and seeing “racks and racks and racks of quilts Carla had created for another charity and was preparing to send overseas. It was awe-inspiring to bear witness to her incredible generosity.”
A Remembrance
Since her husband’s death, Jensen has served as CEO of her late husband’s company, Pacific Construction Systems, yet she still finds time to serve.
Her service-oriented nature extends to her employees who she encourages to volunteer. She led by example, participating in the Brown Bag Lunch Brigade sponsored by Hopelink, which raises funds for extra food in the summer when children don’t received subsidized lunches.
“Every little act counts,” Jensen emphasized.
Even though her own time is stretched with obligations, she sets aside time each winter to repair 60-70 donated coats for distribution to agencies. This last year, she also turned bolts of flawed fleece into hats, gloves, scarves, and stuffed animals for Hopelink’s gift rooms.
Whitehurst mentioned she wanted to make something like that for her own grandchildren. Sure enough, “the next time see saw me, she brought in a pattern,” marveled Whitehurst. “She is so kind and thoughtful.”
That’s what the parents of children at Mary Bridge believe.
The quilts are given to the parent “upon arrival,” explained Pat Semon, the volunteer coordinator for Mary Bridge, who explained some children are in for long-term care, or are admitted multiple times. The handmade quilts “are so beautiful, they are keepsake,” said Semon, and are a symbol of love from a stranger.
One day a week, the nurses distribute quilts, the act “means so much to a mother in tears and a child in pain,” said Semon. Some parents have many blankets that they share with friends and relatives as a way to remember their child.
Long after Jensen is gone, the blankets are keeping someone warm, inside and out.
“It will be her legacy,” said Whitehurst.
Sarah Gerdes lives in Bellevue.
Bellevue Rotary event to benefit Eastside Baby Corner
People can make a difference for kids on the Eastside by joining over 650 community and business leaders at the 2010 Bellevue Rotary Foundation Auction, benefiting Eastside Baby Corner.
The auction will be held beginning at 5:30 p.m . Saturday, May 8 at Meydenbauer Center in Bellevue. It is an annual black-tie affair and is presented this year by American Family Insurance.
All funds raised at the auction will primarily benefit Eastside Baby Corner and will also enable the Bellevue Rotary Club to continue to provide grants and other financial support for human service agencies, education and the arts.
“We are very excited to partner with the Bellevue Rotary and be the auction beneficiary” said Karen Ridlon, Executive Director of Eastside Baby Corner. “EBC is at an important crossroads and this opportunity will truly help to propel our organization forward, allowing us, together with our partners like Rotary, to serve more kids on the Eastside.”
To learn how you can be part of the Bellevue Rotary Foundation Auction, visit: www.bellevuerotary.net/auction.
