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Jennifer Skinner, Shelly Heimer, Betty Adams and Heidi Rose McFadden hold the quilt they plan to sell on E-bay that the women hope to earn more than $1,000 for Marine families from the squadron, known as the 'Wolfpack,' in need this holiday season.
DON BOOMER Staff Photographer
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RAMONA -- A mother of two and a Marine wife for 17 years, Heidi-Rose McFadden has come up with a way to use her hobby to raise extra money for struggling military families.

"Our husbands are being taken care of to no end (when they're deployed to Iraq), but we are sometimes forgotten," McFadden said Wednesday. "People will ask, 'What can we send your husband?' and no wife -- especially not a Marine Corps wife -- is going to say, 'What about me?' "

McFadden, a quilter for 12 years, and two other Ramona women, Betty Adams and Susan Johnson, worked a total of 41 hours to handcraft a large red, white and tan cotton quilt with 20 blue stars to sell on the popular eBay online auction site.

The quilt drew an opening bid of $250 in less than 10 minutes on Tuesday and was up to $504 by early Wednesday evening. All of the proceeds will go to benefit the 250 families of the U.S Marine Corps Marine Heavy Helicopter Unit 466 commanded by McFadden's husband.

Nicknamed the "Wolfpack," the transport helicopter unit has been deployed to Iraq three times in the last four years, delivering tanks, artillery and medical supplies to the troops.

The women said they hope to earn at least $1,000 for financially strapped and emotionally burdened families during the 10-day bidding period, which ends on Dec. 21.

Although there are programs available for military families in need, every little bit helps, said Jennifer Skinner, another Wolfpack wife.

"(The Marine Corps) has great resources, they just take time to kick in. If we had our own pool of money to use in the meantime, it would make a big difference," Skinner said, adding that qualifying for military financial aid programs is a lengthy process that involves a lot of paperwork and red tape.

Also, military housing is limited -- there's only one military apartment complex in Ramona -- and child-care programs often have long waiting lists, she said.

McFadden said families sometimes struggle to pay their rent or car payments. Others may not have enough money at the end of the month for groceries or diapers, and military family budgets often make vacations or trips to amusement parks -- things that could relieve a little stress -- out of the question.

"We don't want to see failed marriages and stressed-out children," said Skinner, the mother of a 4-year-old daughter and an 18-month-old son, adding that most people don't realize how hard daily chores, such as unloading groceries while kids wait in the car, can be.

Because McFadden and the other Wolfpack wives aren't an organization, Soroptimist International of Ramona, a nonprofit organization that supports women through service projects, is sponsoring the online auction and managing the tax-deductible donations.

Skinner said they'll wait to see how much money the quilt brings in before deciding how to use the proceeds during the squadron's next deployment, scheduled for sometime next year, but said they would like to be able to pay for at least one outing -- such as a day at SeaWorld -- for all of the Wolfpack families.

Marine wives are often hesitant to ask for help with child care or paying the bills because they don't want to seem selfish or take the attention away from deployed Marines, McFadden said. She said that sometimes her husband, a lieutenant colonel, calls her and asks if she can check on a wife who might not be asking for the financial help or emotional support she or her children need.

"My husband will call and say he's heard from one of his guys that something's wrong at home," McFadden said, "He'll have a guy come to him who can't focus on his job because he's worried about his family."

The Wolfpack families are fortunate this year because the squadron will be home for the holidays, but other military families won't be able to get a Christmas tree or put up their holiday lights this year if people don't offer to help them, Skinner said. And the women offered a word of advice to community members trying to reach out to military families.

"Be insistent. They'll probably try to say they're OK, and they're not OK," Skinner said."We all need help."

-- Contact staff writer Darryn Bennett at (760) 740-5420 or dmbennett@nctimes.com.

How to bid on the quilt or make a donation:

To place a bid on the quilt, log onto www.ebay.com and type in "Blue Star Quilt Fundraiser"

Donations can be made out to SI Ramona, c/o HMH 466 Quilt and sent to Soroptimist, c/o HMH 466 Quilt, P.O. Box 1433, Ramona, Ca. 92065

-- Source: Soroptimist International of Ramona