Kent State students create blankets to donate

Student volunteers work on blankets at Eastway Center on Tuesday, March 8, 2016.

A blanket-tying benefit took place for the Ronald McDonald House of Akron downstairs in the Eastway Center lounge on Tuesday. The National Society for Leadership and Success (NSLS) sponsored the benefit, the group’s second semester doing so.

“We are hoping for anywhere from 20 to 24 volunteers to show up, and hopefully we can end up with that same number of blankets,” said Amber Titus, a senior biology major who is also president of NSLS.

The Ronald McDonald House of Akron has made it its mission to help parents be closer to their sick children while those children are hospitalized. Blankets are provided for the children and their families and in some cases, the Ronald McDonald House of Akron will help relocate the family closer to their sick child.

“Our executive board member, Olivia Hill, has connections with the Ronald McDonald House, so she will probably pick up the blankets and drop them off to the Ronald McDonald House of Akron within the week,” Titus said.  

The Ronald McDonald House of Akron is a local charity that services members of not just the Akron community but surrounding communities as well. Half of the blankets created were donated to the Ronald McDonald House of Cleveland. 

“I believe last semester, we had about fifteen blankets, and this semester, we had enough fleece for about 20. We make blankets of all shapes and sizes, for infants, children and adults” said Nicole Bencie, a Kent State junior nutrition major, who is also the vice president of membership for NSLS.

This year’s blanket-tying benefit resulted in the creation of 16 fleece blankets to be donated.  

Contact Justin Niedenthal at [email protected].