Hi, I’m Cyndy Billmeyer, NE Iowa District Coordinator, and group leader of the Breezy Ridge QOV quilters.
I’m a mother of 5, grandmother of 11 and great-grandmother of 4—so far.
I heard about QOV when my (only) son was severely injured in Afghanistan. He lost both legs, and spent 18 months at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio. He received his QOV there.
Karen Demaree, good friend and WI state coordinator, told me about QOV, and convinced me to become the first state coordinator of Iowa. So, in 2012, I took on that role. Traveled the state, talking to quilt guilds and groups about QOVF. I was state coordinator through 2014, then stepped back to concentrate on Dubuque area.
In 2013, I asked my guild, Cable Car Quilters, to join me in honoring veterans.
And our Breezy Ridge QOV group has awarded 1,034 QOVs over the past 10 years; and now we’re starting on our 2 nd thousand Veteran awards. We award to veterans in a 2 hour radius of Dubuque, including Iowa, Wisconsin and Illinois, being right on the border of the tri-states.