COMMUNITY & CULTURE
NONPROFIT SPOTLIGHT
I
n another life, Carol Watanabe, founder and executive director
of Little Patriots Embraced, designed and sold quilts to
hospitals for their newborn programs.
“Early one morning, I woke up to a design in my head, got it on
paper and sent it to my factory for samples,” she recalled. “I loved
the design, but it wasn’t one I could sell to hospitals. It was a patriotic
design, and at that point, I still had no idea why I was compelled to bring
it to life.”
A few weeks later, Watanabe found herself in California for an industry
conference. The date was Sept. 10, 2001.
“I had the design with me, but still not understanding the significance
until after that next day,” she said. “Everyone has their 9/11 story. Through
all of the confusion and that long drive back to St. Louis in a rental car, I had
time to think about our military and wondered what would happen next.”
Fast forward to December 2003, when Watanabe met a mother of two
(soon to be three) at a holiday party.
“This young lady was crying, so I asked if I could help her. She said
her husband left for Iraq, and wouldn’t be here for the birth of the child
she carried,” Watanabe recalled. “She insisted that she wasn’t crying
about serving her country, but instead she was sad because there was
no organization that could show love for her kids and be of emotional
support to her. She just wanted to know that someone