- February 8, 2025
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A new group in Port Orange is taking an initiative to support individuals who serve and have served in the military by making and donating quilts to active military members and veterans.
Quilts of Valor, a nationwide organization, has only recently come to Port Orange to provide more service members with their own quilts.
Terry Burtchell, Volusia County QOV group leader, is spearheading the organization's efforts locally by starting a new quilting branch in Port Orange. Burtchell, whose son served in the Army, first became involved in QOV three years ago when she retired from her seamstress business, which she had for 35 years before she passed it down to her daughter.
"I was looking for some way to give back to our veterans," Burtchell said. "Veterans have always been on my heart, so I wanted to get involved in this organization."
Burtchell was the former state coordinator in Arizona before she and her husband moved to Port Orange about a year ago. She said once she moved to Florida she knew she wanted to continue making the quilts. Now her immediate goal is to educate the public and get volunteers.
Because of how new Burtchell's group is, she does not yet have a meeting place, though she hopes to partner with the library to quilt with other residents. Currently, there are only three people helping with the quilts, and they can't keep up with the demand for quilts.
Burtchell said her goal has been to focus on World War II, Korean War and Vietnam veterans. Though the organization usually hand-delivers the quilts to each individual, some are shipped to places such as the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Washington, D.C. The quilts are also used by members of the military who are returning to the U.S.
The quilts that are made have specific guidelines that have to be used: They must keep to a red, white and blue color scheme, be around the same size, and be washed once they are made. The quilts cannot have wording and are hand-bound. Each quilt includes a QOV label that has the name of the person receiving the quilt along with the dates he or she served in the military.
For Burtchell, handing a quilt to a veteran or someone actively in the military is not only a way to thank individuals who serve and have served, but it allows her to give back in her own way.
"It's just a neat group of women doing something for people in our community and a way of paying it forward," Burtchell said. "I love to give back, and I'm a quilter, so it all works together."
Visit qovf.org, call 290-0172 or email [email protected].
