Matt Willingham 
If you’re like me, every package or letter you get in the mail makes you feel good–especially when it comes from overseas. Two letters in one day would make me giddy. But the amount of boxes we recently received rendered me speechless.
It’s a whole wall of boxes, and it’s all from the amazing people at Iraqi Bundles of Love!
When you hear a phrase like “bundles of love,” you might imagine Care Bears or old ladies making pillows or something, but the purpose of these bundles is actually much more impactful than that. Iraqi Bundles of Love (IBOL) was founded in 2008 by Major Art La Flamme. What he intended to be a short, six-week project of passing out a few handmade blankets erupted into a compassion-driven, blanket-making phenomenon among quilters and sewers worldwide. Now, willing contributors send Major La Flamme a box of handmade blankets and quilts, and he then hands them off to local Iraqi military personel, police and sometimes US soldiers who then distribute the blankets. IBOL’s desire is to place these bundles in the hands of locals who need them most.
You might be thinking, “But isn’t most of Iraq a scorching desert?” and you’d be right–in the summer. In the winter temperatures throughout Iraq drop quite a bit. In 2007, it even snowed in Baghdad (something that almost never happens) and in northern Iraq temperatures can drop below zero degrees Fahrenheit. Below-freezing weather without a decent heat source means all you can do is shiver through the night, so IBOL provides blankets for those who wouldn’t be able to get warm any other way.
We partnered with IBOL for “Super Secret Project #4,” and are thrilled that everyone at IBOL was so eager to bless our kids headed to surgery. We can’t wait to pass all the blankets out to children. ICU can get chilly, and blankets like this will make a difference in the children’s recovery! Find out who Major La Flamme and his amazing volunteers will bless next by following them on Facebook. Thanks!
