As the nation pauses to honor its heroes this Veterans Day, one Alexandria couple is blanketing veterans with gratitude. Custom Woven Blankets LLC is a small, family-owned business run by Army veteran Garrett LaMarche and his wife, Grace Everitt. The company launched a new charitable initiative to design and deliver custom-made woven cotton blankets to military veterans in DC-area nursing homes — free of charge.
Honoring Service
“We think that the blankets are a really good blend of form and function,” says Everitt. “It’s an elegant way to honor someone’s service in a visual way.”
The company recently achieved a major milestone: securing official trademark licenses for the U. S. Air Force, Space Force, Army, and Navy. For LaMarche, who served 14 years in the U.S. Army as a Blackhawk helicopter pilot, the effort to gift military blankets to vets is deeply personal.
“We’ve got a history of service in our family; this was an incredible opportunity for me to stay connected to the (military) community,” LaMarche says, “I still kind of feel like I’m part of it.”
New Military Designs
With the licenses in place, Custom Woven Blankets has released a new line of officially approved military designs featuring each branch’s seals and logos. Every blanket can be personalized with a service member’s name, rank, and years of service. The blankets are woven from 100 percent American cotton.
The company donates 5 percent of all sales to its newly established Veteran’s Blanket Fund. The money helps cover the cost of creating and hand-delivering blankets to veterans who cannot afford them.
“The ultimate goal, if we can, is we want every veteran in a nursing home in the DC area to have this personalized, custom blanket,” says Everitt. “They kind of turn into family heirlooms — after the person passes away, it’s still a wonderful way to remember them.”
Feature image courtesy Custom Woven Blankets LLC
