Warm wishes

View larger image Fort Valley 4-H members Mary Carlson, 14, left, and her sister, Martha, 7, of Fort Valley, are wrapped up in a donated blanket, one of 1,000 items that their club hopes to collect for the needy in the area. The club will be collecting new and used blankets and cold weather clothes in front of St. John Bosco Catholic Church in Woodstock on Saturday from 5 to 10 p.m. — By Rich Cooley/Daily

Local 4-H group plans collection of blankets, outerwear

By Josette Keelor -- jkeelor@nvdaily.com

FORT VALLEY -- Wrapped in a dark blue bed comforter outside on a January morning, sisters Mary and Martha Carlson of Fort Valley looked pretty warm. Only their faces and some key winter accessories were visible from within the cozy layers of fabric and stuffing, 7-year-old Martha all but hidden beneath a pink hat and a smile.

With temperatures dropping dramatically this week, even summoning the year's first snowfall, the girls did not seem so out of place, huddled together for warmth. The blanket provided what their few layers of clothing probably failed to do against the biting winter air.

But 14-year-old Mary and her sister were not freezing. They hoped only to illustrate a desperate growing need of area residents who don't have a handy giant blanket to wrap around themselves for warmth. The girls, as part of the Fort Valley 4-H, want to inspire change.

This Saturday the group from Fort Valley will attempt their most ambitious donation drive ever.

"It's the first time they've ever done this," said event organizer Georgia Merrick. In fact, she said, it's the first time any 4-H group in Shenandoah County has done a clothing drive to this extent.

The group of about 30 children has sponsored other fundraisers in the past, mostly by raising money for the 4-H, sometimes also collecting items to give to the needy -- but nothing on this scale and never clothes, Merrick said.

Their goal is to collect 1,000 articles of outerwear or blankets. They will collect donations at the corner of Main and Foundry streets in front of St. John Bosco Catholic Church in Woodstock from 5 to 10 p.m. Saturday.

The group is asking for any useable outerwear -- gently used or new blankets, coats, sweaters, scarves, hats and gloves -- and plans to donate the items to Social Services in Shenandoah County and the American Red Cross in Winchester, as well as some local churches, if possible.

Disaster relief services and the American Red Cross are always in need, Merrick said.
So far the group has collected a few blankets, but at its main event is where members hope to pull in the most community participation.

"There are other 4-H groups that will be involved," Merrick said. This is her hope, anyway, since she said she won't know who's participating until they show up on Saturday.

Some members of the group who gathered on that recent frosty morning to talk about their project mentally tried to put themselves in the shoes of those they aim to help.

How would they feel if they did not have what they needed to keep warm, Merrick asked the group. Many of them agreed that they would be happy for the help.

"To help other people" is what 10-year-old Matthew Funk hopes to get out of participating in the event.

"I came and talked about [the] homeless," Merrick said, elaborating on the frequency of winter fires that leave unsuspecting families at least temporarily without shelter or personal items to keep warm.

For children especially, she said, recent years have brought high numbers of parents having a difficult time providing warm clothes for their families.

"They don't have the means to take care of them," Merrick said.

Members of the Fort Valley 4-H for ages 9-18, and the Fort Valley Cloverbuds for ages 5-8, will team for the event, Merrick said.

"These are the kids who are going to be tomorrow's representatives in our community."

For information on the blanket and clothing drive, contact Georgia Merrick at 233-2275.