MINOT -Not every kid experiences love or has a place to call home.
But on Valentine’s Day, at least 14 of those youths received blankets made by students at Minot Consolidated School as a gesture of love and caring.
“Our hope is that through the receipt of this blanket on this special day, you will know that you are loved and cared for,” reads a letter from each of the 16 classes that participated in the community outreach project with New Beginnings in Lewiston.
For the past week, students at the kindergarten-through-grade-8 Minot school have been tying knots in polar fleece to make lap-size blankets for the residents of New Beginnings’ Transitional Living Program. The short-term residential program serves youths from 16 to 21 years old who are homeless for a variety of reasons, said Executive Director Bob Rowe.
“This is wonderful,” said Rowe. “Especially coming from peers. Our kids usually come here with their possessions in a garbage bag.”
Despite two snow days last week, the last group of students finished on Monday in time for the Valentine’s Day delivery. Jennifer French’s fifth-grade class spent the afternoon cutting and tying the final four blankets.
“Maybe those kids think that no one cares about them,” said Logan Nichols, 10. “These are really warm and fuzzy. I know I would like one of these. It might make someone think that they could go back to their families.”
Classmate Damien Hopkins, 11, pointed out that some of the blanket recipients can’t go back home. Hopkins said he hoped that the blankets will be reminders that there are people who do care.
“I think that they’ll like them,” said fifth-grader Garrett Whalen. “This coming from another kid’s heart.”
The project blossomed from 11-year-old Victoria Jeffcoats, her mother, Bonita Morin, and grandmother Joan Morin, all of Minot.
Last year, Victoria wanted to do something different for her birthday party. She asked her friends to bring fleece instead of presents. Together, they knotted blankets and donated them to Advocates for Children.
“I just like to help out people,” said Victoria, a fifth-grader in French’s class.
This year, Bonita Morin needed to develop a project for a university class she was taking as she studies to become a counselor.
“It just all came together,” said Morin, who also works as a teacher’s aide at Auburn Middle School. “The project was to foster awareness in young children that not everyone is as well-off as they are.”
Morin asked teachers to voluntarily sign up for the project. Individual students contributed 50 cents to pay for the fabric. Then she and her mother, Joan, worked with different classes to complete the blankets. On Monday, all three generations were working together in the same class.
Anyone interested in coordinating a similar project may call Bonita Morin at 784-6211.
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