The children’s ministry at First Baptist of Tallapoosa received a lesson on respecting and honoring the members of the U.S. Military Wednesday night.

Around 20 children wrote supportive messages to soldiers on denim squares, which will be sewn into quilts and delivered to military hospitals overseas through the nonprofit organization Operation Quiet Comfort.

After reading about the organization’s quilt project on the Internet about a year ago, LaDonna Gray of Tallapoosa thought the project would be an excellent hands-on activity for the church’s children.

“I thought it would be a great way for them to show our appreciation that we have here in America,” she said. “It just gives them a little bit of comfort and lets them know that people here at home care about them and support them.”

When the church collected enough old blue jeans from its members, Gray’s mother, Diane Gray, cut the donated denim into 96 squares. Using a construction paper stencil, the children used permanent markers to write messages like “thank you,” “praying for you” and “you’re my hero” on the 4-inch squares.

At the beginning of the activity, retired U.S. Army Colonel Jim Carter told the children that the most important thing they could do for soldiers was to pray for them. He also told the children that when they see a soldier in uniform, they should go up to them and say “Thank you for what you’ve done” or “Thank you for what your doing.”

“I appreciate what you are doing, and so will the soldiers that you send them to,” he said.

Gray’s daughter, Nikkole, 8, said she had fun writing messages, and she understood what the project meant to soldiers.

“I think it’s important to soldiers because they fight every day for our freedom, and it just means a lot to me,” she said.

Operation Quiet Comfort’s Public Relations Representative Amber Sherman said the squares will be divided up and then sewn into quilts with other squares from around the country.

“We want to make sure that there’s a little bit of all of America on that quilt, not just one state,” she said.

Where a quilt is sent depends on who requests it once it is ready. The non-profit organization gets requests from more than 30 hospital chaplains in Iraq, Afghanistan, Germany and Qatar.

Sherman said she gets comments frequently from spouses of soldiers who say things like, “It is so nice to read someone appreciates what (my husband or wife) did.”

Operation Quiet Comfort also prepares bags for soldiers to receive at hospitals packed with hygiene products and other items. The nonprofit organization also collects afghans, shawls, stationary, snacks, coffee and financial donations. Sherman said the best way to get involved is to join the organization’s Yahoo Group because though it they send out notifications of current needs. Because needs change so frequently, the nonprofit is not set up to receive random donations she said.

For more information visit www.operationquietcomfort.com.