The 4th Annual Blankets of Hope Marathon in Bowie, MD

"Welcome to the 4th Annual Blankets of Hope Marathon!!"

The annual "Marathon", created by Soldiers' Angels Lisa Dodson and Matt Dick, was held again this year at the Ascension Church Hall in Bowie, MD. On Saturday October 3, 2009, the community gathered for the fourth year in a row to make "Blankets of Hope" for wounded and ill service members medevaced from Iraq and Afghanistan to Landstuhl hospital in Germany. The blankets have been sent to the Soldiers' Angels chapter at Landstuhl for distribution to the patients.




This year was another record-breaking event - 200 volunteers made 333 fleece blankets for troops medevaced to Landstuhl hospital in Germany. Last year 180 volunteers made 242 blankets.

Putting the marathon together involves months of dedication and effort - planning, publicity, organization, and fundraising. Lisa and Matt would like to thank everyone in the community who donated time, fabric, and funding.


Bernadette Kovalasic of Aberdeen Proving Ground tells the volunteers about a young man who walked into her office recently to ask about the Blankets of Hope... and continued by telling her that he had received one of the blankets 6 months before. Lisa said there was not a dry eye in the house.

It would be impossible for Lisa and Matt to name everyone for their contributions, but they'd like to give a special shout out to Maureen and Alan Barber, the Potter family, Father Calis, Amanda King, Share & Care at Ascension church, Jim Hossick and the many generous donors. Matt and Lisa couldn't do this without you!


I recognized a lot of faces from last year including this couple, Brenda and Art McKinney of Ascension Church's Folk Group.

A Newbie gets a tip from a Pro.

Supporting our Wounded Warriors is a family affair.

Girl Scouts showed up...

...young people lent a hand...

...as did seniors...

...men as well as women...

...military bloggers, like our own Lisa-in-DC, who wrote about the BoH Marathon here.

My goodness... they're not even stopping to eat!!!

Kylie, Lisa and Matt's daughter.

Hey, no sleeping on the job! Isn't that a beautiful fleece panel?

The Pile.

Everybody wanted their photo taken in front of "The Pile" as it grew during the course of the day.


Lisa's daughter Amanda King and her grandpa Kyle Dodson.

Event organizers Lisa Dodson, Maureen Barber, and Valerie Potter. You ladies rock!





Did I mention that everybody wanted to get their picture taken in front of The Pile?

Mr. Lore and Matt Dick boxing up the blankets for shipment to Germany.

And here are a couple of the boxes in our storage room at Landstuhl - a little worse for wear, but the blankets are perfect!

Although everyone's still recovering, Lisa's already talking about next year. "It was such a wonderful event. If it grows next year we may have to set up tables outside on the grass!!"

This really is a wonderful event, and I just love seeing the photos each year. Thank you all! I know the patients here were proud to have fought for people like you.