Susan Tillis: Red White & Bundled founder in front of new logo

May 3. The “Red, White and Bundled Shower,” which grew out of a visit by Susan Tillis to Fort Liberty in early 2015, filled the Community Room at Cornelius Town Hall last night with baby items and volunteers.

The story began nine years ago.

Susan visited Walter Reed Hospital in 2015 and met with the spouse of a catastrophically wounded veteran. She asked her not to forget about them.

“As I traveled home that night, I thought about how I would keep that promise. With its large military population, North Carolina was the perfect place to start,” Tillis said.

An (almost) million-dollar baby

Red White and Bundled, a baby shower for our junior enlisted, was born. Held every year at this time, it has raised nearly  $1 million worth of essential baby items.

“These items are critical for families expecting a new baby—from blankets to onesies, diapers, and wipes,” Tillis said.

Background

The Susan M. Tillis Foundation, founded by Tillis, supports active duty military families whose average income is less than $25,000 year.

Tillis runs the Allen Tate office Davidson, but her baby is the shower. Her husband is US Sen. Thom Tillis, who began his political career on the Cornelius Town Board.

Over the years hundreds of people have brought baby items to Cornelius Town Hall where Tillis collects them with a team of volunteers and ships them off to military bases for distribution. Her foundation will soon be renamed Red, White and Bundled which puts the organization’s mission and purpose front and center.