8/6/2008
FORT WORTH – U.S. soldiers in Iraq who donate blood for their comrades wounded in battle will now have a blanket full of well wishes to keep them warm thanks to the efforts of JPS Health Network’s Blood Bank lab employees. When Lt. Col. Willie Vallejo, a JPS Blood Bank employee who is currently serving in the U.S. Air Force Reserves, called upon his fellow lab workers in the states to send blankets to soldiers donating blood, he received far more than he asked. Vallejo is stationed at Balad Hospital Base in Northern Iraq where he is chief of pheresis, the removal of targeted portions of blood components such as platelets, plasma or red blood cells. These blood components are used to save the lives of both military personnel and civilians who are admitted to the hospital.
During such procedures, the blood that is removed from the body is replaced with other fluids, which creates a chilling effect. Vallejo’s call to action was to send warmer, more durable blankets to the base in place of the standard-issued Army blankets. In response, the JPS Blood Bank lab decided to quilt a blanket and have employees sign words of well wishes.
“Willie is a member of our team, so when he said he needed help, we wanted to do something really special that would not only support our soldiers, but also Willie as well,” Christopher Crockett, MT, said. “So, we put our heads together and decided that we would pass out individual squares of fabric to employees and their families to write well wishes on and then make a quilt out of it.”
The quilt grew tremendous response, and has everything from patriotic pictures to blonde jokes to Bible scriptures. Once the squares were complete, Alyce Dozier, MT, hand stitched the squares together, and Eagle Mountain Products, whose owner is a retired U.S. Air Force veteran, donated their time to quilt the blanket “from one colonel to another.”
The group has shipped the quilt off to Vallejo, who will have the soldiers sign thank you notes on the back and will bring it back with him to display upon returning to the lab.
JPS Lab Sends Warmth and Well Wishes to Iraq