Brevard crafters wrap local vets in warm wishes with handmade hats, blankets and more
Stacked in Rita Brooks' garage, they were stacks of boxes, filled with scarves. Hats. Baby hats. Quilted blankets. Sweaters.
Delivered to the Veterans Hospital and the Veterans Memorial Center, they're handmade gifts that will wrap local veterans and their families in warmth — both the physical kind and the kind that comes from a special place in the heart.
That warmth is flowing from the Heritage Isle Crafters, a small and dedicated cadre of knitters, crocheters, quilters and all-around talented people who range in age from pre-Medicare to their 70s and 80s.
Representatives from the Viera-based group recently took dozens of the handmade articles, from lap blankets to tissue box covers to baby clothes, to the Veterans Center. They'd worked on the project for the better part of a year.
Between the two veteran-based sites, group members dropped off more than 250 handmade items, including 19 knitted or crocheted lap blankets. 32 quilted lap blankets. 95 knitted or crocheted scarves. 46 hats. Baby sweaters, blankets, quilts and cover-ups. Toddler hats and gloves. Children's toys. Socks. A really big Christmas hat. Christmas ornaments, cell phone carriers — even a crocheted child's scarf disguised as a cat coughing up a rainbow.
Rita Brooks, who helps coordinate the logsitics of getting everything where it needs to go for distribution, made 26 of those 95 scarves.
When Brooks thinks of a veteran in the cold — and chilly nights aren't uncommon in Florida come fall and winter — that's enough to spur her to action.
"The veterans certainly deserve more than they're getting now, right?" she said.
"It's just a wonderful feeling that we're able to do something to contribute, something to help. We're not the only organization doing things like this, but they tell us they're grateful, and show their appreciation."
Kristi Blanchard, secretary of the Brevard Veterans Council and the Veterans Memorial Center, raved about the worksmanship and beauty of the items, which will be distributed to veterans in different life, family and housing situations.
As an Army veteran — she's a member of the third class that accepted women at West Point — Blanchard can appreciate the crafters' gesture even more.
"From our perspective, especially at this time of year, it's so important," she said.
"A lot of our veterans are either in the VA, or some of the St. Francis Reflections homes, and this is when they miss their families the most, when family can't be there. So having these gifts of love ... it's beautiful."
There's meaning behind each item
Retired U.S. Army captain Donn Weaver, chairman of the Brevard Veterans Council, said the impact of such seemingly small gifts is big in today's economy, where "veterans and so many other people are on the edge."
"When we get these deliveries, the veterans who come to the center for help with the VA, or maybe to look for part-time work, whatever, they see these items," he said.
"And they take one or two for their families or themselves ... these are things they would not get and wouldn't have if they weren't donated."
More: Year-round gratitude: It changes lives, one meal, one step, one kindness at a time
Marjorie Leonhardt makes all the quilted blankets, and some baby hats, too.
"Every little scrap of fabric, I find a spot for it," Leonhardt said.
"It's very moving ... we enjoy making these things and even more important, knowing where they're going means a lot. We're really a social club. I mean, that's really how we started. But since everybody realized this is something we could do, it's really grown enormously."
They make things one might not expect, like tissue box covers, bright and cheerful. The covers bear patterns that can be tweaked to fit small or large tissue containers, which often go home with a veteran who's been in the hospital.
For the woman who makes those tissue box covers, Linda Gotham, being part of this annual effort is an extension of her pride in her country.
"I've always been patriotic, going to parades and to the Veterans Memorial Center for Fourth of July and Veterans Day," she said.
"It's so important that we remember our veterans, because freedom is so close to our hearts. We're losing our World War II veterans. And they have stories to tell. For me, it's about remembering these people who gave up a lot for our freedom."
A group with a mission
Cathy Bouck thinks about who'll be getting the items, too. She made 18 scarves. She likes using bright, cheerful colors. She wants her handiwork to be perfect.
Bouck was with the group back in 2007 when they were a quilting club. Over time, she said, people started coming in "with different projects and it just kind of evolved into this."
"This," it turns out, is more than a casual get-together for this creative group of friends. It's a labor of love. It's a salute to service.
The scarves are just a drop in the bucket of the need out there, Bouck knows, but it's what a group of people with time and talent can do deftly and quickly.
They've already started on next year's bounty.
"It's something so minor in the grand scheme of things, yet it means so much to so many people," Bouck said.
"I can't imagine seeing families homeless, people out in the woods, with children, with babies. When they said there's a need for baby things ... that just blows my mind."
Britt Kennerly is education/breaking news editor at FLORIDA TODAY. Contact Kennerly at 321-917-4744 or bkennerly@floridatoday.com. Twitter: @bybrittkennerly Facebook: /bybrittkennerly.
This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Brevard craft group blankets Space Coast veterans with handmade gifts
