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Residents of four group homes operated by the Douglas County Resource Alliance (DCRA) received a love offering of 24 quilts from a local organization.

The Cherokee Rose Quilters Guild presented the quilts Wednesday as part of its 2009 community service projects. Last week, they carried cushions and walker totes to Good Neighbor Care, a facility on Hospital Drive, said Beth Mahle, chairman of the Community Services Committee.

“I’ve never seen so many happy elderly people in my life,” Mahle said. “They were almost fighting over them.”

Suzanne Hagen, assistant director and volunteer coordinator for DCRA, was no less excited. She said it was the first time anyone had done such a project for the organization.

“They will be so tickled,” she said. “It will be like Christmas for them.”

In addition to the 16 group home residents, people who receive short-term care through DCRA will also benefit from the gift.

DCRA changed its name from Douglas County Retardation Association to the new trade name this year to be more sensitive, said Hagen, but the acronym stayed the same. It has been active in Douglas County since 1970 and is funded through the newly created Georgia Department of Behavioral Health & Developmental Disabilities, Hagen said. The respite facility, which offers short-term care, is funded by the United Way, she added.

They are in their third three-year accreditation from the Committee on Accreditation for Rehabilitation Facilities, an international agency, Hagen said.

All of DCRA’s services are in Douglas County, according to Hagen, which was important to the quilters guild when they went looking for a beneficiary for their project.

“It was a challenge for us to find an agency (like this),” Mahle said.

The quilts were made by various individuals, according to Sandra Wilson, publicity chairman for the guild. Some people made two or three and some helped others make them, she said. They started this quilting project in January, making them in all sizes — kings, queens and twins, Wilson said.

The guild was founded in 1990 as an outgrowth of the Douglas County Handcrafts Guild, she said. It is a diverse group, young and older, from Atlanta to the Alabama line, the group’s brochure says. They all share one major interest: quilting — from hand-quilted traditional bed quilts to embellished, machine-quilted wall hangings and other items.

In addition to their community projects, the group brings in well-known quilting teachers and lecturers, holds quilting bees at members’ homes, organizes quilt challenges and field trips and displays quilts in the community.

In 2005, the guild made 87 quilts for mothers and spouses of soldiers from the Douglasville Armory, Wilson said. They have also made quilts for the S.H.A.R.E. House and the Pregnancy Resource Center, “blankies” for Alzheimer’s patients and walker totes for local assisted-living facilities.

The group meets twice a month at Union Grove Baptist Church, 6517 Union Grove Road, Lithia Springs. The day meeting is the second Thursday of the month at 9:30 a.m., and the night meeting is the fourth Thursday at 7 p.m. The doors open 30 minutes before each meeting.

Anyone who would like more information on the guild may call 770-944-2093 or access the Web site at www.cherokeerosequiltguild.com.