Quilts of Valor Display

The public is invited to view a special Quilts of Valor display at the Horry County Museum. Quilts made especially for 18 local veterans will be on display in the museum from Nov. 12 through Dec. 17.

The mission of the Quilts of Valor Foundation (QOVF) is to cover all service members and veterans, touched by war, with a comforting and healing quilt. In 2003, Catherine Roberts, the founder of the QOVF, had a son deployed to Iraq. She struggled with how to stay busy and keep her mind busy while he was in harm’s way. One night, she had a dream where she saw a man sitting on the side of a bed, shaking. In her dream, a quilt was placed around his shoulders and he seemed to be comforted. As a nurse and quilter, Roberts then decided she would make and send quilts to Kandahar. Each stretcher that had a wounded veteran got a red, white and blue quilt placed on their stretcher. After six years, the foundation decided to award a quilt to any veteran who served during wartime era, from WWII to present. Since 2003, the foundation, now a national organization, has awarded over 216,000 quilts.

The local QOVF, Myrtle Beach Shore Birds began in 2010 and covers Horry, Georgetown and Florence Counties. So far, they have awarded 2,855 quilts. Each quilt takes around 100 hours to make and costs around $250.00. Requests for quilts come from veterans throughout their area, many living in and around Conway, SC. The group is a 501(c)3 nonprofit and is dependent on donations to allow them to make and award the quilts. Those interested in helping Myrtle Beach Shorebirds make quilts can contact the Horry County Museum at (843) 915-5320 or email hcgmuseum@horrycounty.org. To view a full list of programs at the museum, visit our website at www.horrycountymuseum.org. The Horry County Museum is open Tuesday through Saturday, 9 a.m. until 5 p.m. and is free to the public.