WILTON — Members of Wilton Day Group have completed a yearlong challenge by donating 13 colorful quilts to Beacon Hospice.

Kelly Herlihy, volunteer coordinator, accepted the quilts on behalf of Beacon Hospice’s Veterans Program.

Members of Franklin County Homemakers Extension were asked to sew crazy-quilt squares over the year, member Lois King said. Some members created an entire quilt.

Providing information and education about a veteran’s end-of-life experience is part of improving the care provided to veterans, Herlihy told the group.

“There are 26 million veterans today,” she said. “One of every four — 25 percent — of dying Americans is a veteran. The (Veterans Administration) can only care for 4 percent of those veterans.”

That leaves 96 percent to seek private long-term care, she said.

“Togus has a beautiful center, called Togus Spring, for veterans at the end of life, but there are only 10 beds for the whole state,” she said.

The Hospice for Heroes Veterans Program at Beacon Hospice is “a hospice care program that recognizes and responds to the unique needs of the veteran and his/her family,” according to its website.

The program promotes education and public awareness of the end-of-life care needed for veterans, along with partnering with other groups, she told members.

Herlihy offered the quilters a small plastic soldier and prayer card to encourage them to pray for a veteran.

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Members of Wilton Day Group recently donated 13 quilts to Beacon Hospice for distribution to veterans. Kelly Herlihy, volunteer coordinator for Beacon Hospice, accepted the gifts. With Herlihy, second from right, are Ann Ibarguen, Beverly West, Lillian Miller, Lynnette Hinkley, Linda Cushman, Becky Tyler, Lois King and Ellen Nadeau.

Lois King, left, of Wilton Day Group and Kelly Herlihy, volunteer coordinator for Beacon Hospice in Augusta, hold a Patriot-themed quilt created by a member of the Franklin County Homemaker Extension group. The group made 13 quilts for the hospice’s veterans program.

A small plastic soldier and a pray for veterans reminder were given to members of Wilton Day Group Thursday as Kelly Herlihy, volunteer coordinator for Beacon Hospice, spoke to the group about the Hospice for Heroes veterans program.