LAS VEGAS (FOX5) — A group of volunteers across Southern Nevada is making handmade quilts for active duty service members and veterans through the Quilts of Valor Foundation, a national organization with chapters across the country, including in Nevada.
Louise Davenport, director of Quilts of Valor Nevada, said the mission is rooted in recognition.
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“We are quilters, and we chose to use our time and our skill to let our active duty service members and veterans know that they are remembered,” Davenport said.
More than a quilt
Last year, the group awarded 312 quilts to active duty service members, veterans returning on Honor Flight and participants in veterans treatment court.
Davenport said the impact of a quilt can go beyond the gesture itself.
“The whole time they were serving, whether they knew us or not, we were supporting them quietly behind the scenes, and we back it up with a quilt,” Davenport said. “And we wish them good health and peace all the days of their lives.”
Davenport described one case in which a man who was considering taking his own life received a quilt the weekend before he had planned to act.
“He actually decided somebody gave a damn and he didn’t do it,” she said.
A personal connection
Volunteer Annie Romero said she began quilting after her late husband, a Vietnam veteran, received one.
“My husband would not talk about or have anything to do with Vietnam — nothing,” Romero said. “It opened up a window for him.”
So far this year, the group has awarded more than 120 quilts, with dozens more in progress.
Nominations for veterans or active duty service members can be submitted online.
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