This blanket drive indeed shared the warmth, including ones crocheted by ‘angels’
Chuck McDowell’s new apartment can feel cold. There are several reasons for this, including that he and his girlfriend keep the heat turned down to try to keep their utility bills in control, but part of it is also because they had to move there this fall after damage from a fire forced them from their former apartment in New Castle. Other factors also have kept him out of work.
So he was happy when he went to an agency that sometimes helps him, People in Need, and saw a table with a sign: “Free blankets.”
He chose a brown and yellow one that looks like someone hand-crocheted it.
That’s because someone had — someone who belongs to the The Stitching Angels of Holy Spirit Parish, based at St. Camillus in New Castle. “They bring us blankets every year, several times a year, and they make baby blankets and caps for newborns,” says Sharon L. Hodge, executive director of People in Need.
Her agency provides services including a food pantry, a mental health outpatient clinic and pregnancy counseling, and this time of year, it is part of the United Way of Lawrence County’s blanket drive, titled “Share the Warmth.” Sponsored again by Columbia Gas of Pennsylvania, this year’s drive collected 648 blankets — counted, sorted and packaged by several student volunteers in the Shenango School District — that were distributed to several agencies and shelters, including the Humane Society.
United Way of Lawrence County Executive Director Gayle Young welcomes other businesses and churches to join in, saying in
a release, “The students are always the key component that makes this program so successful. Their enthusiasm and commitment to serving others is contagious.”
Sharethe warmth, indeed. Just ask Mr. McDowell, who loves his new blanket, which he plans to put on his couch ... or his bed ... or his 12-year-old son’s bed.
“It’s beautiful. It really
is,” he says, adding, “It’s nice to feel the kindness of people.”