Sharing warmth

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By Steve Heath | The Times-Post

PENDLETON — Third-graders at East Elementary School proved they didn’t need a Valentine’s Day party to show their big hearts.

For a service learning and kindness project, the students, with help from their teachers and parents, made fleece blankets for patients at Community Cancer Center Anderson and Fresenius Kidney Care Anderson.

Four third-grade classes made 90 blankets, 45 for each center.

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Representatives of both facilities came to the school to thank the students, who then presented their special gifts to them to take back to their patients.

“It originated with our principal (Andrew Kruer),” said Melissa Merz, a third-grade teacher who helped organize the project. “He challenged us to, instead of a Valentine’s Day party, do a service project.”

Parents helped purchase materials for the blankets and joined the teachers and students in the production.

At the end of February, representatives from the dialysis center came to speak with the students and received blankets for their patients. Cancer center representatives visited the school last week, including a cancer patient, Stephanie Ellis.

Ellis has been in remission for four years but is still a patient at the center.

She spoke to the children about having multi-hour chemotherapy treatments and how beneficial it was to have the warmth of a blanket. She said she still has a blanket that was donated to her when she first became sick.

“When you’re cold, scared, unsure and nervous, the blanket gave me comfort,” Ellis told the children. “You are going to help a lot of people going through a very sick time, and we’re very proud of you.”

Along with Merz’ students, classes taught by Stephanie Shepard, Veronica Collins, Marcia Farr and Jen Hathcoat participated in the project.

Merz said she was amazed how large the project became.

“We thought we would make the blankets, drop them off and that was it,” she said. We were hoping to make at least 20. When I reached out to both centers, I was expecting them to give me a time to drop them off. Both volunteered to come in and asked if they could bring volunteers, patients, staff and present to the kids.

“I was blown away by that and their willingness to participate.”

Students sent cards to both centers. The cards included a group picture of all the third graders, each with blankets they helped make. Along with the photos, students wrote personal notes and well wishes.

The Fresenius Center sent the classes pictures of their patients with their blankets, too.

“I thought it would be nice because they can stay warm while they are at the doctor’s office,” third-grader Aidan Patrick said of his participation in the class project. He added that tying portions of the blankets together was the part he enjoyed most about the production process.

The success of the project has led to plans for continuing the relationship. Both centers plan to return to East next year. The school hopes it will have more to offer, too. The idea is to double the production so each center can have 90 blankets.

“The kids loved it,” Merz added. “They cut. They tied. They took ownership.

“It was definitely a better experience than a typical Valentine’s Day party.”

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