Air Force Maj. Jon Lowe is stationed in Iraq and recently received a quilt from the Ajo Piecemakers as part of their "Hugs for Heroes" program.
Courtesy of Maj. JON Lowe
Posted on 04/04/2009 6:59:48 AM PDT by SandRat
Ajo, a former mining town west of Tucson, is a place so small it has only one stoplight. But Darlene Gaylin and friends are putting it on the map as the home of "Hugs for Heroes."
Since 2007, the great-grandmother and a few dozen silver-haired pals have been crafting quilts in red, white and blue and shipping them to troops overseas. They've sent more than 200 so far.
"We call them our comfort quilts, and they are made with love," said Gaylin, 71, who spends much of her free time sewing — so much that her husband has declared her "obsessed" with the project.
A member of the Ajo Piecemakers, a local quilting group, Gaylin said she got the idea for patriotic quilts when her niece's husband, a soldier from Texas, was killed in action in Iraq.
"I was touched by what I heard about his funeral, how his soldiers cried and called him their hero. I asked my quilting group if we could send quilts to his unit as a tribute to him. That's where it started."
Over time, the group's "Hugs for Heroes" project has branched out. The ladies also have sent quilts to Walter Reed Army Medical Center, to a military hospital in Iraq and to troops whose loved ones hear about the project and make requests.
Some recipients were so touched by the gifts that when they returned from war, they made special trips to Ajo to visit the quilt-makers, Gaylin said. "Now we're like their adopted grandmas."
Others, like Air Force Maj. Jon Lowe, the son of Anne and David Lowe of Marana, have e-mailed their thanks across the miles.
"Thank you for making me feel appreciated," wrote Maj. Lowe, who is stationed in Baghdad teaching Iraqi officers leadership skills and English.
The quilt "has made an otherwise dreary room that I live in into a very nice place to come back to at the end of my day," he wrote.
The major's mother was moved, too.
"I think what really touched my heart was the fact that complete strangers did something wonderful for my son," Anne Lowe said.
"They are lovely people with hearts of gold and true American spirit."
Gaylin, who's had little contact with military personnel until now, is "amazed and impressed" with the troops she's come to know through the effort.
"We've met a lot of wonderful people," she said. "It's been very fulfilling."
Her only fear is that the group might eventually run out of resources to keep the program going. The businesses and citizens of Ajo have been generous with donations, she said, but some donor fatigue is occurring in the economic downturn.
Gaylin said it takes several days and costs somewhere around $40 to make each quilt and ship it overseas. "But the love," she said, "is free."
Contact reporter Carol Ann Alaimo at 573-4138 or at calaimo@azstarnet.com.
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