“I came up with the idea when I saw a homeless gentleman across the street in a doorway in the middle of the winter and he had a stack of blankets,” Linda Deaton, a member of Blocks to Blankets, said this week. “I thought certainly there is something community-wise we could do here at the center, so that’s where I came up with the idea.”
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The group begins making blankets in October and at the end of the year they donate the blankets they’ve made and begin again.
The blankets they create are donated to different agencies in Clark County such as Interfaith, Clark County Combined Health District, Project Woman, and now the Clark County Sheriff’s Department.
“We added the sheriff’s department because there are so many parents that are on drugs,” Deaton said. “So if they go on a call and there are children, they can give them a blanket to comfort them.”
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They also donate a book with each blanket.
The group has already completed over 300 blankets since the beginning of October and Deaton calculates that this year they will easily hit 400 by the end of September.
The group is also going to begin making hats this year.
Blocks to Blankets meets every other Monday at the Springfield United Senior Services, though some members donate from home.
The design and colors of each blanket are up to the creator so long as the yarn is washable.
Blocks to Blankets accepts donations of squares, preferably 6 inches by 6 inches.
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