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Blankets of Love

GOHS Blankets of Love Print E-mail
Thursday, 28 January 2010 09:31

From Alyssa Stinson from Great Oak’s Interact Club.

"My first grade teacher started this project as a way to commemorate her aunt, who’s life ministry was making and giving blankets away to those in need, after she passed away.  She started the project with just the 20 students in her classroom and in the last 8 years the project has grown from those 20 students to over 3000 students participating in the event every year around Valentine’s Day…hence the name, Blankets of Love.  :) 
 
The reason I decided to start this project at my school was because:
-I felt that I should give back to the hospital that I had my surgery at (CHSD) on my elbow because they were so kind and supportive.
-I saw a playroom for the cancer patients at the children’s hospital and I immediately thought of how fortunate I am to just have been there for a small surgery.
-I wanted a way to make an impact in the community, no matter how big or small…
 
I brought the ideas of this project to Carly Santiago, (club president), and she thought it was a great idea and wanted me to present the idea to the Rotary Club even before we had club meetings and the reaction was phenomenal.  From then on, I took this project under my wing and have organized the project from day one.  I started out knowing that this project was going to take loads of work and effort in order for it to be successful, and I have put in numerous hours to this project to make sure that I will be able to get the best / biggest impact possible.  
 
From October to December, I was on the hunt for donations and was able to raise approximately $1200 from the generous donations from Temecula Rotary, as well as family and friends.  The price to make each blanket is $10 which includes the bags to package them in. Therefore, we raised the money to make 120 blankets.  Due to the purchase of excess fabric and my connections with my first grade teacher, I was able to receive extra material thus giving the GOHS Interact Club enough for 134 blankets. :)
 
These 134 blankets will be split into 3 sets, approximately 45 blankets, and will be delivered to two local Temecula shelters (SAFE and Oak Grove), Children’s Hospital of San Diego, and the new Mattel Children’s Hospital at UCLA.  
 
On January 24th, 45 Great Oak students, Rotary members, and family gathered at the GOHS Gym and cut, prepared, and tied over 100 blankets and cut and prepared the rest of the 134 to tie on a later date.  
 
The weekend of Valentine’s Day (either the 12th or 13th) we will meet again to finish the tying of the blankets, as well as hand-writing letters to the children receiving these blankets.
 
 
Thank you very much for your support and willingness to publicize this project!"
 
Alyssa Stinson
Class of 2010
 

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