Patriotic Quilts Honor Military Service of Nursing Students

A local quilters group presented homemade patriotic quilts to 20 USF College of Nursing student veterans on Oct. 24 during a Quilts of Valor recognition ceremony at the Sam and Martha Gibbons Alumni Center.

The student veterans, all part of the college’s V-CARE cohort set to graduate in December, were given the quilts as a token of gratitude for their military service. The annual event is coordinated by the USF Office of Veteran Success.

The Quilts of Valor ceremony takes place in Traditions Hall of the Alumni Center.

V-CARE is an accelerated nursing program that allows medics and corpsmen to transition into a nursing career by offering credit for military training and education.

Members of the Patriotic Quilters of Florida, the local chapter of the Quilts of Valor Foundation, has sewn and helped distribute nearly 100 handcrafted creations to USF student veterans.

The Quilts of Valor ceremony takes place in Traditions Hall of the Alumni Center.

The creations are made by volunteers and follow specific quilt-making dimensions. The first Quilt of Valor was awarded in November 2003 at Walter Reed Army Medical Center to a young soldier from Minnesota who had lost his leg in Iraq.

The Quilts of Valor Foundation is a nonprofit founded in 2003 by Catherine Roberts, whose son Nat was deployed in Iraq. The foundation coordinates with local quilting groups and quilt shops across the country to supply the quilts. Since its inception, more than 200,000 quilts have been awarded to veterans.

The Quilts of Valor ceremony takes place in Traditions Hall of the Alumni Center.

The Quilts of Valor ceremony takes place in Traditions Hall of the Alumni Center.

Story by Elizabeth L. Brown, USF College of Nursing