BOUNTIFUL—It could be a child in the hospital, in foster care or a baby in the NICU, anyone who needs a little extra love and comfort. Those are the kids Boulton Elementary sixth graders are trying to help by making blankets.

“It’s kids who need a hug,” said Karen Marcus with Project Linus as she showed the students her blankets and gave them instructions on how to make them. “Maybe they go to foster care and the kids have been abused and pulled from their home. They have nothing of their own. Think of those who are getting them.”

One boy wanted to make blankets for his Eagle project, she said, “He got a blanket as a kid. He said, ‘I can just give blankets to the hospital and pay it forward.’”

Marcus told the kids a story about a girl who was being bullied. “She decided to make a blanket for the bully. You don’t know what’s going on in someone else’s life. The bully just needed a hug. They’re friends now.”

At first, Marcus said her 86-year-old mother didn’t want to make blankets. “She was just sitting in front of the TV. She needed something to do while she was watching TV and started making blankets. Now it gives her purpose.”

Project Linus gave 2,000 blankets last year, said Marcus. “More and more are needed.”

“We’ve done six baby sized to teen boys blankets,” said SEM teacher Kirsten McNeal. “We’ll do blankets for the rest of the year. We’re going to buy more fabric and yarn with the donation we received last year. The students are really inspired to do more and do better.”

“I think it’s really beneficial,” said sixth grader Gibson Freeman. “It’s a great cause. I really like people and they really need this.”

The students are also working on collecting backpacks with school supplies for Lifting Hands International. “They’re for children of refugee families that have nothing,” said McNeal. “They’re sent around the world.”

At the beginning of the year the kids made posters and fliers to get donations, she said. “Last year we did this for Ukraine. The kids got stories back from the children. It was nice for them to know that somebody cared, that another child cares.”