she teamed with the District Community Service Program to solicit hats, gloves and scarves. She asked Auxiliaries for donations of toiletries and nonperishable food items, which were bagged and secured inside the bedrolls. With everything collected,
Pilliard and her husband set out with Buchanan and St. Louis’ Hope Recovery VA Center’s Judy VanAman on a delivery expedition in a 12-foot U-Haul packed with bedrolls. First stop “Hopeville,” a homeless encampment on the banks of the Mississippi River. “I handed out 60 Ugly Quilts,” Pilliard said. “I’ve never had so many hugs in my life.”
Invited to visit the tents and plywood shacks where 20-30 veterans lived among other homeless men and women, what they learned from those veterans was both enlightening and heart-wrenching. There
26 LADIES AUXILIARY VFW MAGAZINE
was Al, for example, who qualifi ed for shelter through VA assistance but refused to leave his sick wife, who did not. Pilliard still had 70 quilts, and another delivery was scheduled for March, but Missouri Auxiliaries will continue to hear from her. “If every state, each VAVS
representative and deputy at every facility got involved, we could help a whole lot of veterans nationwide. It’s a simple thing to do,” she said. “You could reach practically every homeless veteran. And who else is going to do it?” Auxiliary members interested in participating can contact Pilliard by e-mail at jbvavsrep@
sbcglobal.net or write to her at 16 Heather Court, Crystal City, Missouri, 63019. Go to
www.uglyquilts.org for a pattern and step-by-step instructions for sewing a bedroll for a homeless veteran. ■ MS
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