The Friends and Family Veteran Support Organization held a ceremony to present a Quilt of Valor to John Robert Stephens, Veteran of the Army who served from 1968 to 1969. They also presented Joseph Glenn Vance Jr. a quilt honoring his service. Mr. Vance is a Marine Veteran who served from 1969 to 1971.
The ceremony was held at Friendship Baptist Church. Joyce Lowry and Donna Hoffman presided. The Friends and Family Veteran Support Organization has presented Quilts of Valor and Quilts Honoring Service for over 20 years. Both quilts were made by Donna Hoffman and quilted by Jim Hoffman.
Quilts of Valor was started in 2003 by Catherine Roberts. She had a son serving in Iraq and she felt seconds away from panic every day he was serving. It was during this time she had the idea of comforting Veterans with quilts. Each quilt is made first to honor the Veteran for their service, second to acknowledge that freedom is not free and the quilt is to thank the Veteran for their sacrifices, and third to offer comfort to the Veteran and remind them they are forever in our thoughts. Over 350,000 Quilts of Valor have been presented over the years.