In December, my fourth-graders at Delaware St. Mary School were doing online research for organizations that help the needy. We found one organization with a button that said, “Click Here to Donate.” The whole class cheered, “Click the button!”
I said we couldn’t donate unless we had money to give, and immediately kids shouted out fundraising ideas. We decided to have a bake sale, and after doing personal research, the kids decided to support My Very Own Blanket.
My Very Own Blanket is a Westerville-based, non-profit organization founded in 1999 that gives a blanket made by volunteers to every child in the foster care system and children in need to provide a feeling of comfort and security as they take the blankets from home to home.
Thousands of personalized blankets with the child’s name are donated yearly. So far this year, according to My Very Own Blanket’s website, 8,500 blankets have been received toward a 2023 goal of 35,000.
In my class, we have kids who are part of foster families, and they felt a personal connection to this organization.
The next few weeks were filled with making posters, researching recipes and more. We ran a bake sale at each weekly Lenten fish fry at St. Mary Church. Each week, kids baked treats, came to the fish fry and greeted people from our church with smiles and information about My Very Own Blanket.
We were amazed by people’s generosity to us! After six weeks of bake sales, the kids had raised $1,135. They are so happy to give this money to support kids like them who need love and care.
Allison Scalfano is a fourth-grade teacher at Delaware St. Mary School.