Margaret Gray and Betty VanMatre check over the stacks of blankets ready to be taken to the homeless veterans who reside at the Huntington V.A. Home.
Naomi King, Sharon Pratt and Debbie Finlaw roll the blankets, tie and tag them in preparation for delivery.
Checking the blankets twice before passing them along to be readied for delivery to veterans were Cathy Hudson, left, and Kathy Thomas.
MIDDLEPORT — “To our Veterans we send our love and thank you for all the freedoms we enjoy. Our gift to you is one of warmth.”
So reads a card which is attached to more than a hundred fleece tied blankets made by the Ladies Heart to Home Club of the Bradbury Church of Christ. They will be delivered to the Veterans Homeless Shelter in Huntington, W.Va. this month.
Last summer when the church members learned about the needs of the veterans homeless shelter, they decided to take on a special project of remembrance. The decision was to give each of the 101 veterans a “gift if warmth.” So month after month they met in the church basement to cut and tie pieces of fleece in colorful designs into blankets.
“We felt this would be a good way to make a difference for someone in need, that it would be a good outreach project for our church,” said Debbie Finlaw, an active member. When others heard of the project contributions began coming in help. There were gifts of money from the Veterans of Foreign Wars and its Auxiliary in Mason, W. Va., the Drew Webster Post 39, American Legion in Pomeroy, and Iota Masters, a local sorority chapter.
Blanket donations were also made by Sandy Meadows, the Bradbury Church of Christ, Pat Arnold and Marilyn Wilcox of the Middleport Church of Christ, and June Kloes of Middleport.
The blankets were made in several sizes, from twin to king, and since more than enough for each veteran at the Huntington Home were made, it was decided to give those left over to local shut-ins. Completing the project in time to make the delivery this month at first seemed a challenge for the eight or ten women working on the project, but then a few men offered to help out and more than enough of the blankets were completed in time for the planned Christmas delivery.
Attached to each of the blankets going to the homeless veterans is a card from the Bradbury Church of Christ which reads “Our gift to you is one of warmth. With this wish of Christmas greetings, rejoice in John 3:16 — God’s gift to us of eternal life.”
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