Providing Warmth to Children, One Blanket At a Time

It is easy to take certain luxuries in life for granted. People from a middle class demographic might not always stop to realize just how lucky they are to wake up every morning to utilities such as running water, proper heating, food, and entertainment. For the 2.5 million children that are rendered homeless in the United States each year, having just one of these resources would drastically improve their quality of life. Unfortunately, there is only so much that can be done to make a difference. Change doesn’t transpire overnight, and the amount that can be done depends solely on the people with the ability to evoke it. Here at NHS, there are numerous ways to get involved in charity and earn the volunteer hours needed for graduation. One club that frequently does community service is the Interact Club. Recently, they decided to sponsor Project Linus, an organization that makes and donates blankets to children in need.

On January 10, students both from the Interact Club and those simply looking to volunteer gathered in room 313 during the common lunch block. The event ran for the entire hour so people were permitted to eat as they made a blanket. The process in doing so was fairly simple. Each person/group was given a long strip of fabric and told to cut out squares that were each one yard in length. Then, from that square, students were told to cut away the corners so the sides would stick out. Finally, the sides were were then cut into strips and tied together to form a blanket that is ready to be shipped off to a child in need. Throughout this event, everyone involved was engaged and eager to contribute in any way that they could.

The Interact Club in has been run by Ms. Della Fave and Mrs. Coppola since the start of the year. It is a state run organization that was founded in 1962 and has now spread to NHS. Along with Interact, Della Fave and Coppola run Human Relations club. The intentions of both clubs is to, “make students a little more aware of what goes on in the community, not just the classroom, and not just this building,” said Mrs. Coppola. “I think that this idea of helping hands and just getting out there and making a difference for people that aren’t necessarily in our lives is important.” The Interact Club may continue to work with Project Linus again in the future, depending on how successful it is this year.

When volunteering, not only do students accumulate hours that look great on college applications, but they are also left with a sense of satisfaction from knowing that they did something to make the world a better place, even if it is on a smaller scale. For the rest of the month, students are permitted to pop into room 313 to help make a blanket during lunch on most days of the week.