Quilts of Valor Eastern Missouri celebrated their 20 year anniversary, and eclipsing the 4,000 quilt milestone in a special ceremony June 3.
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When Jackie Heggemann, Jean Jaeger, and 21 other ladies met in 2005 in Concord Hill to start quilting for veterans, they never imagined their small group would grow into the robust organization that exists today.
Now known as Quilts of Valor Eastern Missouri, their organization, celebrated 20 years of quilting, and over 4,000 quilts created to be distributed to veterans around the state, at a special meeting in the St. Ignatius Community Center earlier this month.
Over 100 quilters from around the area were in attendance June 3 to enjoy each other's company, quilt and reminisce on all they have accomplished.
Heggemann was in attendance at the event but unfortunately, Jaeger has experienced some health complications and was unable to attend. Thankfully the group was able to zoom her in from her nursing home to share some memories and congratulate her on how the charity she helped to found has grown.
“This is something that is amazing to me, that we started at one quilt and we’re up to 4,000,” said Jaeger. “I never thought something like this would come from 23 ladies.”
While Jaeger is no longer involved with the organization, current leaders Mary Jo Edson and Darlene Sforza complimented her on the work she did to lead them in their early stages and credited her with their success today.
“What you started is absolutely wonderful,” said Edson.
Sforza echoed those sentiments, saying she was proud to follow in Jaeger’s footsteps.
“She was such a great leader,” said Sforza. “She was very meticulous and very precise in the way she kept track of everything so her leadership was so good. So as long as we repeated what she was doing we couldn’t fail.”
Sforza said the original meeting was not actually intended to be a Quilts of Valor event, as the original 23 members had just met for a quilting day, but Heggemann had a family member who had served in the Vietnam War.
They had heard about the Quilts of Valor organization, which was founded two years prior in 2003, and decided they should join the mission.
As Jaeger spoke with the 100-odd quilters in attendance via zoom, she recounted anecdotes from her time there and milestones the organization had reached under her tenure.
She was proud when they decided to break away from the larger national Quilts of Valor organization, as at that point they had grown enough to sustain themselves as their own non-profit group.
As of June 3, they have distributed 3,987 quilts and have roughly 15 more that will be presented to veterans in the area in the coming months, bringing them over the 4,000 mark, according to Sforza.
Edson also remarked that even though they have accomplished so much, the need endures as more and more veterans and their families continue to reach out to the organization.
“You continue to find veterans who need these quilts,” said Edson.
Sforza agreed and said she was proud to carry on the mission that Jaeger, Heggemann and 21 others had started so many years ago.
“There’s so many veterans out there and we want them to know that we really appreciate what they did and sacrificed for us. Even though we don’t know them and they don’t know us, this is our way of thanking them,” said Sforza.
