Their son served in the Marine Corps between the two Gulf wars, and her brother served in the Air Force in Vietnam as an advisor and sharpshooter. She took to quilting and became a skilled quilter and quilting teacher.Īlan served as a Navy Corpsman with the Marines in Vietnam. They are a couple with high energy, have worked hard in their professions, raised three children (and now have six grandchildren), ran an antiques business, and pursued many additional interests and hobbies, from raising horses to Master Gardening. She has worked as a teacher at all levels and served as a high school counselor for 15 years, and later consulted with educational service districts and the state senate. She first helped locally with quilts for veterans on an informal basis and then joined the group in 2014, eventually becoming Washington State coordinator in November 2021.Ĭindy and her husband are retired educators. She lives in Lacey at Panorama with her husband, Alan. I think that we receive much more than we give.” How did Cindy arrive at this moment?Ĭindy Hoover shared her home and sewing room for this article. Cindy commented, “It is such a joy to award our quilts to veterans. Other groups include law enforcement (Olympia police, Lacey police, Thurston County Sheriff’s office), VFW, and Panorama. The largest ceremony conducted by the Stars and Stripes Group was to veterans who were residents of Drexel House II in Olympia, with 46 quilts awarded in 2017. Quilts may be awarded to a veteran or service member in their own home or at a public ceremony for one or more awardees. Now applications may be filled locally for service members and veterans, giving volunteers the opportunity to express their appreciation in person and receive feedback from those who receive quilts. The quilts were sent to distant locales such as military hospitals or bases. In the past, volunteers did not often receive the feedback that means so much. Also, the Stars and Stripes group was recently approved to receive a $10,000 grant from the Nisqually Indian Tribe for their work throughout Thurston County.Īwarding the quilts personally is important to QOVF members. In 2022 they received community service awards for their volunteer work both from the Washington State Department of Labor & Industries, and from the Sacajawea Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution. The group meets for a monthly business meeting plus a sew-in day each month. They have 45 members of the 1,260 quilts awarded to date, 75 were awarded last year. It was organized by Linda Schmitt in 2009 and is now led by Sherry Houser. Of these, 1,260 were awarded to service members in Thurston County! 45 local quilters of valor hereĬindy is the coordinator of the Washington State Quilts of Valor, but a member of the local The Thurston County group, named the Stars and Stripes. Worldwide, by the end of 2022, they have awarded 336,061 quilts, according to Hoover. This is the work of the Quilts of Valor Foundation (QOVF), a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization founded in 2003. These volunteers have a slogan, Quilts = Healing. The stitching patterns are said to be as lovely as the pieced fabric.Ī label on each quilt shows who created it and the name of the recipient. The quilt tops are then matched with batting and a backing, quilted in overall patterns using longarm machines, then bound. Her volunteers meticulously plan, cut, piece, and stitch quilt tops using their own sewing machines. “Notice that I say, ‘wrap ’ we literally call it wrapping the quilts, when we award them,” she told me. Cindy Hoover explained that the quilts she and her group make are labors of love and that they wrap this gift around active service members and veterans touched by war.
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