Bianca Balanean (left) and Luca Richee cut fabric in preparation of making a no-sew fleece blanket.
Mariam Bedram cuts fabric in preparation of making a no-sew fleece blanket.
DEARBORN – Students at Divine Child Elementary School gathered Feb. 26 to make no-sew fleece blankets to donate to Fleece & Thank You, Michigan’s largest provider of comfort care to hospitalized children.
The students from three fifth-grade and three sixth-grade classes gathered throughout the day in the lunchroom to hand-tie 85 blankets with recorded messages of hope. F&TY will deliver them to hospitalized children in Michigan.
“Our students were eager to make blankets and further Fleece & Thank You’s mission to comfort children facing treatment in hospitals,” said Daniela Tuohey, Divine Child Elementary School religion teacher, who helped organize this event for the second consecutive year. “The students enjoy connecting with the community, and this is a meaningful and hands-on way for them to give back. We are proud that their work can spread a little bit of happiness.”
Nicholas Kristock, F&TY founder and executive director, said it was an honor for the Farmington Hills-based nonprofit to work with Divine Child, especially for F&TY’s Director of Operations Alyssa Dorchak, who is a graduate of the Catholic school.
Bridget Griffin ties together fabric to create a no-sew fleece blanket.
“It’s invigorating seeing all these students from Divine Child come together for other kids who are in need of support and encouragement, and I appreciate all of the hard work they put into their blanket making event,” Kristock said. “Something as simple as a warm, colorful blanket can give kids and their families a reason to smile and have hope during an uncertain time.”
F&TY’s signature program is the blanket-making event. Individuals, families, corporations and community groups host more than 400 blanket-making events every year to help F&TY achieve its goal of making 30,000 fleece blankets – one blanket for every child in Michigan that goes into the hospital for inpatient treatments.
Every blanket F&TY provides also has a personal video message attached to it from the blanket maker to the recipient in the hospital, who can then send a “thank-you” message back to the maker.
About Fleece & Thank You
Established in 2015, Fleece & Thank You is a nonprofit organization that makes fleece blankets with encouraging video messages for children who have been hospitalized. For more information, go to FleeceAndThankYou.org.
Brody McNamara (and) and Elijah Lewis tie together fabric to create a no-sew fleece blanket.