Local Long Island Students Donate Hand-Made Blankets to the Nursery at St. Mary’s Hospital for Children
St. Mary’s youngest patients received an incredible gift from local Long Island students of Center Street School. As part of the Herricks-area school’s service club, the students recently donated more than a dozen blankets they made for St. Mary’s nursery.
“Our students in Center Street School’s Service Club hand-made these blankets over the course of three weeks because they wanted to ‘donate these to new babies or babies that needed things that they didn’t have,’” said Janine Gentile, Service Club counselor and teacher at Center Street School. “The students were ecstatic they could do this for St. Mary’s youngest kids and make an impact in their lives.”
Each student in the Center Street School Service Club brought in at least two pieces of fleece for their blankets and they were then taught how to make “no-sew” blankets by cutting strips of fleece and then tying them into knots to create a fringe. For three weeks, each student worked with a partner to complete a blanket – resulting in 40 total blankets, half of which were donated to St. Mary’s nursery.
The Center Street School Service Club is comprised of several 3rd, 4th and 5th graders and is celebrating its second year at Center Street School. Previously the club has participated in coat and book drives, as well as a Valentines for Vets program at Long Island VA Hospitals and Custodian Appreciation Day at Center Street School.
The children of St. Mary’s are battling complex medical and life-limiting conditions due to serious illness, injury and complications of premature birth.
