UPDATE: On Oct. 31, Global News received word the quilt had been found in a dumpster and a Good Samaritan recognized it after hearing the story on 630 CHED. She brought it home, washed it and hung it out to dry. It will be returned later Thursday afternoon.
It wasn’t expensive. It wasn’t elaborate.
But a quilt hand-stitched by a group of Edmonton veterans is priceless.
The quilt was stolen from the back of a vehicle in southwest Edmonton’s Keheewin neighbourhood on Thursday, Oct. 17, and the members are desperate to get it back.
“It’s not a big, expensive, fancy thing,” said psychologist Liz Massiah, who is a co-founder of the Old Boots Veterans Association.
“But it’s very powerful.”
The quilt was the first-ever made by the members of the military support group. Many of those members are suffering from wounds you cannot see and using their hands has helped them open up and share their struggles.
“For most people it’s hard to talk about really personal things, but people find if they’re doing something with their hands while they’re talking, it really facilitates that,” Massiah said.
READ MORE: Edmonton veteran support group battles isolation and re-integration
The quilt took about nine months to complete and has been the centrepiece of every meeting and public event. The veteran’s names are printed on the back.
“If people were having a hard time you’d see them reach out and just sort of rub it.”
Not one of the veterans knew anything about quilting before they started the project and the group joked there were more than a few drops of blood left behind after being pricked by needles.
Massiah said these are former soldiers who are used to working together in teams and sacrificed so much for our country — “gone through every kind of hell” — and seeing their finished handiwork at each support meeting is a reminder of their perseverance.
The quilt isn’t large enough to provide very much warmth on cold nights, Massiah said, so she hopes the person who took it really needed it.
“I wish you the best, I just want the thing back. No questions asked.”
If you have the quilt or find it, Old Boots Veterans Association is hoping you’ll get in contact or leave it at Southminster-Steinhauer United Church at 10740 19 Ave. NW.