GIFFT seeks lightweight cotton fabric discards

Will be used by Quilts for Kids charity

Heath Combs -- Furniture Today, January 14, 2009

HIGH POINT — The Green Initiative for Furniture and Textile Industry, or GIFFT, is requesting donations of lightweight 100% cotton fabric.

The program takes furniture and textile companies' unwanted fabric and fabric samples, which would normally be thrown into a landfill, and repurposes them.

Last year the organization received close to 40,000 pounds of fabric from the furniture industry, according to Joe Stalnaker, national accounts manager for Avangard Innovative, a recycling service company.

The discarded fabric is used by the charity Quilts for Kids. The fabrics are made into quilts, wheelchair bags and other items for children in need, usually with life-threatening illnesses.

GIFFT officials also recommend that if fabrics are not suitable for making into quilts for Quilts for Kids because the weight is too heavy or they feature a mature theme, consider giving discards to the organization www.freecycle.org for other uses.

To participate in the GIFFT effort, contact Stalnaker by e-mail at jstalnaker@avaicg.com or by phone at (330) 592-4085; or Quilts for Kids founder Linda Arye at linda.arye@quiltsforkids.org or (215) 295-5484.

The GIFFT program was created by SWIFT, the Sample Waste Initiative for Furniture and Textiles industries, and by Avangard Innovative and Quilts for Kids.

Quilts for Kids is now sponsored by Procter & Gamble as part of the new Downy Touch of Comfort campaign, according to Arye, who added that Chandra Wilson of ABC television's "Grey's Anatomy" is now a spokesperson for the group. Wilson recently spoke at the People's Choice awards about Quilts for Kids.