Many groups exist to extend significant help to veterans through healthcare, financial means, or other issues they may be facing in their everyday civilian lives. However, there are some others that can help just by showing they care.
A nonprofit organization in Washington state called Quilts from the Heart aims to provide veterans across the country – and others going through difficult times – with handmade quilts, according to a report from the Colorado Springs Gazette. Since 2003, the group has provided more than 12,000 blankets to individuals and organizations nationwide, with another 500 or so quilts being given to veterans of a number of foreign wars.
"It's the least we can do for what they've done for us," Marilyn Canitz, the founder of the organization who once spent four years as a dietitian in the Army herself, told the newspaper. "Some of them cry. They say the medals are nice but the quilts they can wrap up in."
Canitz added that the group currently has 30 quilts ready to be given away in case a crisis arises, the report said. The group – currently made up of about 15 volunteers – can complete a new quilt in about 10 hours, and finishes somewhere between 10 and 15 per week as a result.
Veterans who are having difficulties of any kind should understand that there are many groups designed specifically to provide benefits for veterans in need. Whether that help is financial, medical, or otherwise, assistance is often just a little bit of research and a phone call or email away. The more veterans and these groups can do to find each other, the better off both are likely to be in the future.