NewsChannel 3 took action to honor a 74-year-old woman who is making a difference for troops and veterans.
When Lillian Clark first saw our cameras, she didn't know what to think. I told her, her daughter told me about her.
Lillian responded playfully, "I'll kill her."
It was the daughter's email that told me about her 74-year-old mom who lives at Sullivan House, a retirement community in Virginia Beach.
Lillian regularly joins other volunteers to load and pack up care packages for our troops overseas. Lillian is legally blind.
Gesturing that she relies on peripheral vision, "I see this a way and this a way, but when I look at you I can't see your face. I've lost it, but I can crochet."
Yes she can. She says it takes her about two days to crochet an afghan blanket. "Just take your fingers and go down, you don't have to look. Find you a hole and keep going," she explains.
She's made about 16 afghans for a local organization that provides temporary housing for homeless vets. So due to her work on care packages for our troops and blankets for homeless vets, we presented Lillian with a NewsChannel 3 People Taking Action award along with a $100 Visa gift card from our community partner Southern Bank.
Lillian's reaction?
"I don't deserve it." I told her I know you don't do this for the recognition, but I know our troops appreciate it. "Well I hope so," she responded.
Lillian is known to speak her mind, especially when it comes to our veterans. She believes they could be treated better.
"And it's not right for the United States to send money cross the sea and not help their vets out," Lillian says.
This is why she does her part. "Well it just makes my heart bigger," she says.
So why is she so passionate about this?
"Because I was married to a vet. My husband was in the service," says Lillian.
During our interview, Lillian told us about a pretty colorful nickname she has that she was afraid to say on the air! Watch the video to find out what it is!
