My friend, Cindy, and I both make QOVs. We work from the same pool of fabrics and money. We go to 3-4 local events per year ( i.e., community days, fairs, etc) to raise funds to support this worthy cause. We take a table, a sign, our books (which I'll explain later), a money box and two quilts. Cindy stands at one end of the table, me at the other. We usually start a conversation by saying, "may we talk to you about our quilts, why we make them and where they are going?" Then we go on to explain about QOVs, how we get our destinations, the cost of supplies and postage (we estimate about $80 each to make and ship), and ask if they can help with a donation. Very few turn us down. At the end of a long day, we come away with several hundred dollars.
Regarding the need for these quilts now that the conflicts are winding down, many of our wounded will need care for many years. We often find a local need and have given to WWIIs, VietNam and Korean vets. One lad was in the VietNam and was recently confined at a psych unit for several months owing the post traumatic stress. His wife said she expected to come home and find him dead. (They took all of the guns out of the house.) When he agreed to go for help, he said he only wanted to talk to a VA doctor, they were the only ones who would understand.
When quilt is ready, we contact the Foundation and they in turn will provide a destination. For the past year, all of our quilts have gone to Afghanistan or Landstahl, Germany. We have a large hospital in Landsahl where they do the serious surgeries. When a soldier gets to Landstahl, he will return home and in most cases cannot return to combat. Cindy and I have pictures of the medical transport planes that carry these heroes. One photo shows the litters stacked three high on the wall and a line of litters down the center of the plane. AND, you can see they all have red/white/blue covering them.
Regarding our books. We take a photos of several of our completed quilts. We have a few thank you notes. We have a few pictures of recipients. We have copies of our destination letters. We show these books as we talk to the public. We have been invited to speak at ladies and mens clubs, churches and find these folks to be generous.
This is all I can think to share with you now and must close. I have an appointment and need to head out.
Thanks for listening to this long post.