Alice Love drove 2 hours each way to attend Red White & Bundled

May 19. By Dave Yochum. Three truckloads of baby items worth tens of thousands of dollars, including 85 baby blankets knitted by Alice Love of Graham, left Cornelius Town Hall yesterday evening.

Love drove two hours from Graham to contribute to the Susan M. Tillis Foundation‘s annual Red White & Bundled baby shower which sends baby items to Fort Bragg, MCAS Cherry Point, Camp Lejeune, Seymour Johnson Air Force Base and the NC National Guard every year.

Love said it took her a year and half to knit the blankets, a labor of love for young military families, some of them parents still in their teens.

US Sen. Thom Tillis

Dozens of volunteers sorted, organized and packed for about an hour before the trucks left.

Founder Susan Tillis was there as well as her husband, US Sen. Thom Tillis. Former Cornelius Mayor Lynette Rinker helped organize the event which last year netted baby items worth nearly $100,000.

Background

The ​foundation grew out of a visit to Fort Bragg eight years ago where Tillis, who runs the Allen Tate office Davidson, saw the needs of junior enlisteds and their families.

Over the years hundreds of people have brought baby items to Cornelius Town Hall where Tillis collects them with a team of volunteers and ships them off to military bases for distribution.

Quotable

“These men and women are fighting for our freedom. It seems the least we can do is to ensure a happy homecoming for their new babies,” Tillis said.

Susan Tillis: Baby Bundles