For the past three years, John Boucher has collected Crown Royal bags from area taverns as a fund raiser for the Merrill Enrichment Center.
He brings the bags to the MEC quilting group who use the bags to create a queen size quilt. It takes the ladies a few months to complete the quilt.
He then takes the quilt back to the taverns for a raffle. The raffle brought in $550 this year and Waylon Hartl won the quilt.
Local taverns that helped with this year’s quilt raffle were Dugout, Eagles Club, Humphrey’s, All Aboard, Rock Island, Trophy, and Brett’s Hillside.
This year, the quilting group will use the money to make quilts for the homeless shelter in Merrill.
“What a great example of how generous our community truly is!” said MEC Director Tammie Mrachek. “Let’s start saving those bags again!”