HELENA — With cold temperatures quickly approaching, staying warm is a priority. For Walter Hoveland, it motivated him to help his fellow military veterans.
"The blanket meant so much to me, just to be able to have and to feel that somebody cared enough to put me under it. I want to make sure every veteran gets the exact same experience I had and that none of them is left cold," said Hoveland, the organizer of Blankets For Veterans.
This movement began when Hoveland was hospitalized last winter at Fort Harrison VA in Helena and was cold. A nurse offered him a warmer blanket to make sure he was comfortable.
Hoveland shares what his nurse told him.
“She said, 'You are really lucky to get this,' as she was tucking me in, 'because we do not have very many of them and we do not see them on the floor often.”
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This small comfort is something Hoveland wanted to share with veterans in his same situation.
He recruited his Masonic Lodge brothers and gained enough donations to cover every hospital bed four times.
“These veterans are in this hospital and a lot of times they are alone, and cold, or surrounded by strangers and smallest comforts go so far," Hoveland says.
The blankets are made from a heavy arctic fleece at a company in Massachusetts and are embroidered by a woman in Great Falls.
Although current goals are met, blanketswill need to be replaced over time.
Hoveland says, “This is not going to be a one-and-done situation. This is something I am trying to set up so that it continues in perpetuity."
Hoveland and his crew will present the blankets at the hospital on Veteran’s Day.
If you wish to support this program you can email whoveland@gmail.com for further information.
