Colorado’s Outstanding Veteran Volunteer
Submitted by Paula Lasky
Vice Regent, Piney Creek Chapter NSDAR
The Colorado State Society, National Society Daughters of the American Revolution, honored Juliet Madsen of Parker, Colorado, for the Colorado DAR Outstanding Veteran Volunteer Award at its 107th Annual State Conference. This award is “presented to a veteran-patient in recognition of outstanding achievement in personal, professional, and in family life following a disability.”
Quilting helped 17-year Army veteran Juliet Madsen heal following injuries suffered in Southern Iraq in 2004 from an IED that left her with central nervous system, brain, kidney, and heart damage. When the residual effects of multiple strokes left her with limited use of her left arm and leg, years of physical therapy and the need to redefine herself led to a renewed love for quilting.
Juliet created a unique fundraiser that brought together over 50 quilters to The Ultimate Sew-In on Sep. 27, 2008, at the Colorado History Museum, to create as many quilt-tops as possible. Juliet then machine-quilted these quilt tops. The second phase – The Ultimate Sew-In Auction – where the finished quilts were auctioned off on Sep. 4, 2009, with the stipulation that quilts would go to wounded soldiers as they arrive, like Juliet did, at the Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany. Juliet has forwarded some 350 quilts to Landstuhl.
The money raised from the Ultimate Sew-In and from donations – over $10,000 – will help support our veteran athletes involved in the Wheelchair Games, to be held at the Denver Convention Center July 4-9, 2010.
Juliet’s current projects: She has been commissioned to create a wall quilt for the VFW to celebrate the restoration of one of the Vietnam Memorials in Washington, D.C. on the Mall. Juliet has also been asked to train with the Paralympic Ski Team for the Paralympic Games to be held in Russia in 2014.
Juliet is a member of the Piney Creek Chapter, National Society Daughters of the American Revolution. To learn more about the Colorado State Society, visit www.coloradodar.org.
The National Society Daughters of the American Revolution was founded in 1890 to promote patriotism, preserve American history, and support better education for our nation’s children. Its members are descended from the patriots who won American independence during the Revolutionary War. With more than 165,000 members in approximately 3,000 chapters worldwide, DAR is one of the world’s largest and most active service organizations. To learn more about the work of today’s DAR, visit www.DAR.org.
