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Sgt. P’s Lapghans for Veterans celebrates another milestone
By Kathryn Menue
Editor
On Friday, June 10, Sgt. P’s Lapghans for Veterans celebrated their second anniversary by giving away their 1,000th lapghan at VFW Post 1461 in Belvidere.
Founded on Flag Day, June 14, 2014, Sgt. P’s Lapghans started in honor of President and Founder Charlotte Kennedy’s father, WWII Army veteran Sgt. Walter Petroske, 95.
“He’s been my inspiration and therefore, when I retired two years ago, I wanted to give back to the veterans, and what better way to do that then to use my crochet talents.” Kennedy said.
Sgt. P’s Lapghans has grown from a small nonprofit organization of a few individuals to an organization comprised of 50 volunteers across five states.
“It’s awesome. When I started this organization, I thought there would be four or five old ladies and maybe a couple of men,” Kennedy said. “Never could I have imagined we’d have so many volunteers.”
In their first year, Sgt. P’s Lapghans for Veterans donated lap-afghans to one VA hospital in Madison and one Stand Down in Rockford. Now, the organization donates lapghans to three VA hospitals and three Stand Downs.
The organization’s volunteers spend numerous hours crocheting, knitting, sewing, and quilting lapghans for veterans.
Kennedy said this is not an easy task, since crocheting one lapghan can take 12 to 15 hours and knitting a lapghan can take about 30 hours.
For Kennedy and the other volunteers, the time and effort is all worth it.
“My reward is seeing their faces,” Kennedy said. “All of our volunteers in Sgt. P’s Lapghans appreciate you [veterans].”
As a thank you to the “freedoms” the veterans provide, Kennedy is happy to provide lapghans to veterans like Noah Currier.
Sgt. P’s Lapghans Director of Philanthropy Development and one of the first volunteers, Karol Faurie, said they chose Currier to receive the 1,000th lapghan due to his support for disabled veterans.
Currier, a Marine disabled veteran from Poplar Grove who was in Operation Iraqi Freedom, created his own nonprofit organization with the help of his friends.
Currier’s organization, Oscar Mike, meaning “on the move,” raises money to assist disabled veterans with their goals of staying active. The organization raises revenue through fundraisers and by creating and selling apparel to fund active goals such as sending veterans to the National Veterans Wheelchair Games.
Apparel is sold online at oscarmike.org and at 50 Dick’s Sporting Goods locations, with the closest location being Schaumburg. In the fall, Oscar Mike apparel will be sold at 100 locations. The goal is to have Oscar Mike apparel sold at all 600 Dick’s Sporting Goods locations next year.
One hundred percent of the proceeds go to disabled veterans.
For all Currier does, Faurie said he was the perfect choice to receive the 1,000th lapghan.
“This is an honor. I didn’t even know people in this community were doing this. I’m excited to be here, Currier said. “It’s cool it landed on RED [Remember Everyone Deployed] Friday.”
Currier wasn’t the only one who received a lapghan.
Mason Symons, Army, Jesus Gallegos, Marines, Daniel Anthony Miller, Marines, John Patrick McGillivray, Army, and Carl R. Duoczak, Army, received lapghans as well.
After each presentation, Kennedy thanked the veterans for their service and gave each of them a hug.
Kennedy hopes to celebrate more milestones for Sgt. P’s Lapghans in the future. One way they hope to do this is through an upcoming fundraiser.
Sgt. P’s Lapghans for Veterans will host the Stars and Stripes 3K/5K Fun Run/Walk at the Belvidere Park Kiddieland Shelter, located at 1006 W. Lincoln Ave. in Belvidere, on Saturday, Aug. 6.
The proceeds from the event will go to materials and shipping to send lapghans to veterans in Landstuhl Regional Medical Hospital in Germany.
For more information on Sgt. P’s Lapghans for Veterans, on the Stars and Stripes 3K/5K Fun Run/Walk, or to donate to Sgt. P’s Lapghans, please visit sgtpslapghans.org.
For more information on the Oscar Mike organization, please visit oscarmike.org.
