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Providing comfort to war bereaved

Dozens join a 76-hour marathon to sew 100 quilts for families of troops killed in Iraq and Afghanistan.

HUDSON - Monika Heady pushes her blue-threaded needle through the border of the quilt, tightly hand-sewing the trim while hiding her stitches along the side of the fabric.

She thinks about the families that will get this quilt and the 99 others being sewn this weekend. All have lost a loved one serving in Iraq or Afghanistan. "If these (quilts) are well loved, like we hope they'll be, we want them to last," Heady said. "We hope it does give (families) some comfort when they put this around them."

Heady is one of dozens of quilters participating in a 76-hour marathon for Operation Homefront Quilts.

The West Pasco Quilters' Guild organized the event to help Jessica Porter, the 20-year-old who has earned national media attention for her ambitious effort to send a quilt to every fallen soldier's family.

"I knew Jess was just drowning in her quilts at home, trying to catch up," said Rhonda Koning, who organized the marathon.

The quilting began at 3 p.m. Thursday and runs through 7 p.m. Sunday at the Contractors Institute Learning Center, 8238 Joliet St. in Hudson.

With friends and strangers alike lending a stitching hand, Porter has sent quilts to 570 families within the past 15 months, but the list of people needing comfort continues to grow. At last count, the U.S. military had 1,072 confirmed killed in Afghanistan and Iraq.

"So many people are thanking us for being able to show support for our military," Porter said. "And we're saying, "No, thank you for the help.' "

Anyone who wants to help can call Rhonda Koning at 727 808-3667 or visit www.westpascoquilters.org The quilters need thread, food and postage money for sending the quilts to families.