I felt it was important for my students to give back to others. When looking around at what we could do, I found a site where you make blankets and donate them. The mission of My Very Own Blanket (MVOB) is “dedicated to warming the heart of every child in the foster care system and children in need with a blanket, to give them a feeling of comfort, security and most of all, a SMILE. Handmade blankets are created through the loving care of volunteers.”
As I talked with my 2 LMS Family Consumer Science classes about what we could do with the units we cover, they got excited and wanted to participate in making fleece blankets. We sponsored a school hangout at the end of August. We had enough money to purchase 40 blankets as well as make one for themselves. This gave students an opportunity to learn more about foster care and how children don’t usually get to take anything with them. What we did provided children with a blanket just for them. After several attempts to contact someone, I reached out to a friend who works for St. Francis where he touched base and sent me Tara’s contact information. I finally reach Tara Elliott who was super excited to receive these blankets. She said it has been years since they have received blankets for their caseloads. I plan to continue making the blankets in my class and donating them to agencies that could benefit from them.
Students who made blankets were:
Joy Adams, Braxten Brauer, Alexis Dumas, Avery Goforth, Traven Grimsley, Emmarae Johnson, Zurie Johnson, Camila Landeros, Kaytlyn Laubers, Argenis Montanez, Yurem Ordanez, Shari Sanchez, and Traven Turner
Not Pictured:
Kaden Behnke, Alivia LoBurgio, Jocelynn Peterson, Itzel Rios, and Keira Webb