Hwy 2 Cruisers donate to Quilts of Valor
Thu, 07/07/2016 - 9:22am
admin
By:
Jen Howard
Quilts of Valor Foundation began in 2003 with a dream, literally a dream. Founder Catherine Roberts’ son Nate was deployed in Iraq. According to Catherine “The dream was as vivid as real life. I saw a young man sitting on the side of his bed in the middle of the night, hunched over. The permeating feeling was one of utter despair.
“I could see his war demons clustered around, dragging him down into an emotional gutter.
“Then, as if viewing a movie, I saw him in the next scene wrapped in a quilt. His whole demeanor changed from one of despair to one of hope and wellbeing. The quilt had made this dramatic change. The message of my dream was: Quilts=Healing.”
The model appeared simple: have a volunteer team who would donate their time and materials to make a quilt.
One person would piece the top and the other would quilt it. I saw the name for this special quilt. It was Quilt of Valor, a QOV.”
The first QOV was awarded in November 2003 at Walter Reed Army Medical Center to a young soldier from Minnesota who had lost his leg in Iraq.
In 2005, QOV became a national non-profit organization. The mission of the Quilts of Valor Foundation is to cover T service members and veterans touched by war with comforting and healing Quilts of Valor.
Today Quilts of Valor is totally a volunteer organization from the top executive to all quilters and everyone in between. Many volunteers also donate material besides their time. “Full size quilts today cost around $100 just in materials” stated Ilene Reierson, Quilts of Valor volunteer quilter.
“Many of us donate the material for the tops ourselves and try to get material on sale.”
“Highway 2 Cruisers Car Club has always recognized service members at board meetings, cruises and especially at their car show in August. When the suggestion was made to make a donation, the board felt strongly this was a great place to donate to.” Said Rich Johnson, Chair of Car Club. “We just want others to know about this great organization and what they do for our service men.”
Anybody else wanting to know about donating to the Quilts of Valor or have a name of a veteran touched by conflict please contact Ilene Reierson at 218-791-5739.