No Soldier Forgotten

Do you remember way back in June of last year when I posted this blog post about my friend Alycia and her Quilt of Valor Challenge? Her story (in a nutshell) goes like this. She got involved in the QOV project and went to her kids' school to talk about the project. The kids asked if they could help and so she helped that class make a quilt. Last May (of 2008) she made a delivery of approx 40ish quilts (give or take). The chaplin pulled her aside and said "do you think you could bring 100 next year?" She hesitantly said yes and then went into a full panic. So she sent a call out to fellow quilters in her community (both in real life and online). Then one day a friend said "how many soldiers are in that unit at the hospital?" To which Alycia answered "400" and her friend said "wouldn't it be amazing if you could give a quilt to every soldier?" And a challenge was born. She's blogged every. single. quilt that she's received. Then a few months ago, as she was making final arrangements to make the delivery (background checks, student lists, etc...to get on the army base) she was told that the size of the unit had increased to 700 wounded soldiers. With only a few months left she was sure she wouldn't be able to cover every soldier. She hadn't even reached her 400 goal yet.

Just to confirm how absolutely amazing the quilting community truly is, go check out Alycia's Blog. Her finished quilt count is up to 616!!!! I cannot believe it! She is still collecting quilts, although at some point she will begin setting them aside for next year (I'm not sure when this year's cut off date is). Her delivery will be in early May. She is so close to being able to offer a quilted hug to every soldier in that unit. If you have any finished quilts laying around, looking for a home please consider sending one (or a few) to Alycia's "No Soldier Forgotten" project. They don't have to be patriotic in nature. This truly has grown from a small project at an elementary school to a world wide effort right before our eyes this year. Its touching and heart warming and brings tears to my eyes every time I think about it.