It was this past weekend that a group of Moose Jaw-based veterans from the motorcycle club 'Comrades Forever' raised money for the Swift Current Legion, but the Legion wasn't the only one receiving a gift.

Three veterans, Carman Michel from Red Deer/Sylvan Lake, Darren Maruska from Moose Jaw, and Tracy Nicholas from Moose Jaw all received quilts for their service made by a quilting group in Moose Jaw, along with Fay Tulloch from Swift Current.

Marcie Erick, a regional coordinator for Quilts of Valour Canada, said the veterans were more than happy to receive the quilts.

"I find that the recipients are always so humble," she said. "They're always well-received, but they are always very, very humble. They don't need to be, but they are."

Carman Michel, Marcie Erick, Darren Maruska, and Tracy Nicholas holding up the quilts they were presented.

 

"Each one of them is very different," Erick said, "It's a work of art and an act of love. There are a lot of people that do a lot of different things for the quilt. They put their time and talent into them, and every one of them is different."

For Erick, she has been busy handing out quilts ,with a total of 54 handed out in the last year. More than half of those, 37 to be exact, have been handed out around the southwest, with everyone proving to be a grounding experience.

"I've always had the utmost respect for veterans and it allows me to say thank you from the bottom of my heart from their country, their community, and for other people," she said. "It's changed me as a person. Quilts of Valour kind of came out of the blue for me. Immediately I knew it was what I'd been waiting for, what I was missing. I truly love what I do. I love and appreciate the support and the help that I get from the quilters, they make everything fun, and I love the people that I meet."

Erick added that for every quilt she hands out, and for every veteran she meets, it just makes her want to do it again.