Afghanistan - No the war is not over

Just a heads up that the fighting in Afghanistan is very fierce right now
leading to a substantial increase in the number of wounded. As such, the
number of quilts requested by the standing weekly destinations has increased
from 65 to 105 EVERY WEEK in just the last month. 


The increase by 40 quilts a week includes the addition of the ICU unit at Landstahl in Germany (15 quilts a week), the addition of the medical unit at FOB Shank-East in
Afghanistan (20 quilts a week) and doubling the number of quilts going to
the multinational medical unit at Kandahar Air Field in Afghanistan (to 10 a
week). These quilts all go to front line wounded service members. There is
no concern about whether they have already received a QOV or not.


Sadly, we will fall far short of meeting this need since the 65 quilts a
week wasn't even being fulfilled. These destinations request patriotic/RWB
only. I'm not asking for a debate here about RWB vs generic/branch
specific/feminine. I'm just telling you what the Points of Contact have
requested.


If you would like to help meet this need, please request a destination at


http://www.qovf.org/req-destination.html










Marcella Pirner-Cormier
Destinations Coordinator
Quilts of Valor Foundation

Destination Report

  From Marcella - the Destination Coordinator ~~

Last week's destination assignment numbers are:





Weekly destinations:


Quantity needed: 65 


Quantity assigned: 22





Monthly destinations:


Quantity needed: 33 (weekly average)


Quantity assigned: 7





I also assigned 4 quilts to special  group requests.

Updates from our Destinations Coordinator

Hello Everyone,

This year I would like to keep everyone updated every week on the number of
quilts being assigned to Quilts of Valor weekly and monthly standing
destinations.

There are six weekly destinations, all overseas, that need 60 quilts EVERY
week in order to cover wounded service members who are either in Afghanistan
or Germany. Last week (1/1-1/7) there were 7 quilts assigned to these
destinations. A shortage of 53 quilts for the week.

There are twelve monthly destinations that need 130 quilts each month (an
average of 33 quilts a week). There were 10 available to be assigned to
these destinations last week. A shortage of 23 when looking at the weekly
average needed. One destination is overseas, four are wounded warrior
transition battalions, another four are VA medical centers and the other
three treat service members affected in various ways by their time in the
war zone.

We also have one new weekly destination that is not yet included in these
numbers. The Point of Contact (POC) is a Medevac pilot with the 82nd
Airborne deployed in Eastern Afghanistan. He is operating on the Pakistani
border and personally transports an average of 5 wounded service members
each week.

For the month of December we were 173 quilts short of the needed quantity
for the weekly and monthly destinations...

Thank you for helping to cover those touched by war.

Marcella Pirner-Cormier

Destination Coordinator

Quilts of Valor Foundation

Request A Destination-Just Do It!

We’ve all heard the stories….. A facility or hospital has “hundreds” of QOVs stuffed in a closet and these quilts are not reaching our wounded heroes. These stories spread very quickly through email or Yahoo groups and they negatively affect overall participation in Quilts of Valor. Sadly, there may be some truth behind these stories and since we all want to know that, the quilts we have made are comforting a deserving service member, not languishing in a closet somewhere, requesting a destination through the qovf.org website is more important than ever.

One thing to keep in mind is the volunteers and service members who serve as our Points of Contact (POCs) often have limited space to store Quilts of Valor which is why they request only a certain amount of quilts be sent to them either weekly or monthly. They also know approximately how many recipients will pass through their facility in a given time. Going through Destination Coordination reduces the likelihood of a facility receiving too many, or too few, quilts since assignments are being coordinated across the country and overseas.

POCs and their situations change frequently as their tours end or they are reassigned elsewhere. It is easier if the POC only has to notify the Destination Coordinator of their replacement or their new address, instead of trying to contact everyone who has sent them quilts in the past. We have received word of quilts “following” a POC to their new assignment for months after they have moved on. Unfortunately, they are sometimes not in a position to present QOVs and have to arrange for the quilts to be shipped back to their correct destination. Obviously, this is inefficient and delays the presentation of the quilts.

New POCs and destinations are being developed monthly and going through Destination Coordination allows these new destinations to receive the quilts they need in a timely and coordinated manner. This also includes “one-time” events such as Welcome Home Initiatives and retreats. The other side of this is that as operations wind down in certain parts of the war zones (or hospitals close) a certain destination may no longer be valid at all.

I understand many quilters want their quilts to go to service members in their own states and as such it may be tempting to send or deliver their quilts directly to their “local” facility. However, if we want to eliminate “that closet” and know that our quilt(s) are going to the destination where the need is greatest at any given time; please consider Requesting a Destination for your completed QOVs at http://www.qovf.org/req-destination.html.

Thank you,

Marcella Pirner-Cormier

Destination Coordinator

Stats from July show that more quilts are needed to fill destination requests:

July Destination Coordination Statistics

(does not include “local reports”)

Monthly Standing Requests

Qty requested = 106

Qty fulfilled = 115

Weekly Standing Requests

Qty requested = 65 a week/260 a month

Qty fulfilled

July 3-9 12

July 10-16 72

July 17-23 13

July 24-30 8

Total 105

Shortage 155

Individual Requests

Qty requested = 21

Qty fulfilled = 16

“One-time” Group Requests

Qty requested = 20

Qty fulfilled = 15