Drupal Custom Map Locator

Every LWR Mission Quilt begins with a volunteer’s hands and ends in the arms of a family facing disaster, poverty, or displacement, one of an average 300,000 quilts LWR delivers worldwide every year. But getting a finished quilt or kit from a church basement to an LWR warehouse in Minnesota or Maryland isn’t simple. Most volunteers rely on Ingatherings, regional collection events run by volunteer Key Leaders, to ship their donations efficiently and affordably. Before this project, there was no simple way for a quilter or kit-maker to find the nearest Ingathering, check its dates and hours, or reach the right organizer. And there was no easy way for Key Leaders themselves to keep their own event details current. That gap meant finished quilts and kits could sit waiting simply because a volunteer did not know when or where their local collection was happening.

Alliance partnered with LWR to build a new digital home for the Ingathering network, dedicated entirely to connecting volunteers with a collection event near them. At the center of the project was a single goal: build a geolocation-powered locator where quilters and kit-makers could search by zip code or map to find their nearest Ingathering, complete with dates, hours, directions, and Key Leader contact information.

The core goal: give every volunteer a simple way to find their nearest Ingathering, no matter where they are in the country. Alliance designed and built a custom locator that combines geolocation, zip code search, and an interactive map, so quilters and kit-makers can see nearby collection events by season, along with hours, directions, and Key Leader contact information.

Under the hood, the locator is a Drupal Custom Map Locator: a custom Drupal module built to power event listings and geolocation search across hundreds of active Ingathering sites nationwide. Content is managed through Drupal’s content types and Views, with the organizer portal built on the same platform for a single, unified system. That Drupal foundation gives LWR a flexible, scalable base as new Ingatherings are added each season.

Every Ingathering is run by a volunteer Key Leader, and the map is only as accurate as the information they provide. Alliance built a self-service login for organizers, so Key Leaders can create and update their own listing directly: dates, hours, packing notes, and downloadable resources, all in one place. The result is a map that stays current season after season, without adding extra work for LWR’s Quilt & Kit Ministry team.

The new Ingathering Locator gives LWR’s volunteer network a fast, reliable way to find their nearest collection event, and gives Key Leaders an easy way to keep that information accurate. Together, they create a smoother, more direct path from a volunteer’s sewing table to a family in need overseas.

• A live, interactive locator helping volunteers find their nearest Ingathering nationwide
• A self-service portal that lets Key Leaders manage their own listings in real time
• A single, accurate map covering hundreds of seasonal collection events nationwide
• A faster, simpler path from local donation to global delivery