South Jersey mom searching for sentimental handmade quilt she accidentally donated

HADDONFIELD, N.J. - A South Jersey mom says she has a ‘Hail Mary’ of a request — and thousands of people are now sharing her plea for help on Facebook.

Kim O’Callaghan says she saved more than a decade of her son’s t-shirts and jerseys, and had a quilt made for him, that he can bring to his first year of college at Franklin Marshall later this summer.

"It’s something they can actually wrap themselves up in if they’re homesick, things like that, in their first year of college especially," she says.

In late-May, when dropping off what she thought was a bag of leftover shirts she didn’t use for the quilt at a Goodwill in Haddonfield, she accidentally dropped off the quilt instead.

O’Callaghan says she had no idea until she went to wrap the quilt on Saturday, and found the leftover shirts in the tote instead.

"That moment when I realized what I had done was just horrible," O’Callaghan said.

After searching at a number of local Goodwill locations, Kim decided to post about what happened on Facebook. It instantly took off—getting thousands of shares.

"I thought maybe if I just put this on there, maybe 10 to 15 of my family members will share it, who knows I might get lucky," O’Callaghan said. "I couldn’t believe it, I thought there must be a mistake, there’s no way!"

A spokesperson for Goodwill Industries of Southern New Jersey and Philadelphia tells FOX 29 they saw the post and have been frantically searching since. They alerted all area stores and warehouses, and printed pictures for staff to keep an eye out. No one has come forward recognizing the quilt, so they are hopeful it is in storage and will turn up soon.

O’Callaghan is hopeful for that too, but still feels lucky.

"Regardless of how this ends up, which I’m hoping it ends up with us finding it, but if it doesn’t at least we know there are so many wonderful people out there that are willing to put themselves out and inconvenience themselves for a complete stranger, which has been great," O’Callaghan said.

If you recognize the quilt at a Goodwill store, they ask that you alert a manager immediately.

To reach out to Kim O’Callaghan directly, you can e-mail: kimreilly1@verizon.net.