On the 17th of August 2023, Jim “Cyber Grump” Gordon, a Director of The Rolling Barrage PTSD Foundation / The Rolling Barrage presented Marcie Erick of Swift Current, Saskatchewan, with a presentation of $5000.00 towards Ranger Quilts.
Many within The Rolling Barrage community know Marcie from her previous tenure with Quilts of Valour. She would accompany The Rolling Barrage at various locations during the ride and present quilts to military personnel either who were on the ride while on their journey as they proceeded coast to coast or veterans visiting friends locally at the various stops the Rolling Barrage made.
Ranger Quilts as an organization was formed in part by those relationships she has made with several veterans from the CAF, in particular soldiers who served at one time in the former Yugoslavia and Sarajevo with her Uncle; Rick “Ranger” Lougheed in 3 RCR November “N” Company. Over the years, she has presented quilts to many of the soldiers of that 1st UNPROFOR tour which deployed directly from Germany, where 3 RCR was stationed at the time.
Marcie Erick has had the opportunity to present quilts to Peter Devlin, who was the Company Commander of N Coy at the time of the UN tour and General Lewis MacKenzie during The Rolling Barrage in 2019 on Parliament Hill in Ottawa.
With the transition of many charity and not-for-profit organizations shifting to Veterans, Active Service Military and by the addition of the greater First Responder Community she felt that the time was right to create an organization that honours her Uncle Rick’s legacy, as well as honour and embrace the RCMP and First Responder group of service communities that battle PTSD, mental and physical health challenges. One only needs to read the news within Canada and it becomes very clear that crisis within communities and loss has placed a notable strain on first responders.
Marcie’s first opportunity to present from Ranger Quilts was during The Rolling Barrage 2023 and the ride was in Yorkton SK, where 6 Firefighters were presented with Ranger Quilts. She has been able to present to military veterans, retired first responders and active duty first responders. Marcie also had the opportunity to present quilts to RCMP officers at the RCMP Heritage Centre in Regina, SK and also Medicine Hat and Okotoks AB when The Rolling Barrage visited during the 7th Annual – August 2023 ride.
In total, during her time with The Rolling Barrage in August 2023, over 30 quilts were presented.
Marcie looks forward to future Rolling Barrage rides to present Ranger Quilts to the many deserving members within the Veteran, CAF and First Responder communities.
For more information, please visit her Ranger Quilts Facebook page.