Three dozen newborns will stay warm this year thanks to a group of Lynn English High School students.
For six weeks, participants in the school’s Life Skills program have been at work selecting and cutting fabric, mixing and matching colors and patterns, tying knots, and putting the finishing touches on fleece blankets.
“Not everyone can afford to buy a blanket, so we made them for those families,” said Maria Odgers, an 18-year-old junior. “It’s a way for us to give back to the community and keep a child warm when it rains or snows.”
Odgers is among the 15 students in Amanda Condon’s class in Room 129 who are dealing with cognitive or intellectual disabilities. But their special needs did not hinder their ability to create the colorful blankets.
“Everyone learns differently,” said Condon. “But it doesn’t matter too much here, we do a variety of projects, on top of academics, to make a difference.”
In this initiative, the teens made the blankets for newborns at the Lynn Community Health Center where more than 500 babies were born last year.
George Falta, an 18-year-old junior, said the most challenging part of the assignment was cutting the material. “We wanted every blanket to be perfect, so getting the measurements and cuts right was so important,” he said. Condon said the teens use a variety of skills to make the blankets, including measuring the fleece from giant reams, cutting the fabric and knotting them together. Each blanket takes a few hours of work, she said. The goal was to make 20, but they created 35.
“It’s a team effort,” she said. “The staff is here to help, but the students do this from start to finish.”
Last year, the class made blankets for pets waiting to be adopted at the Northeast Animal Shelter.
Sue Lunden, a social worker at the Health Center, said the student-made blankets meet an enormous demand.
“The center has been desperate for baby blankets and many newborns leave the center without them,” she said. “We are always looking for blankets.”
Eder Navarro, a 17-year-old junior, said while the class doesn’t get to meet the moms who receive the blankets for their babies, he knows it’s a happy moment.
“Sometimes people need a helping hand and we are excited to be able to do that for them,” he said.
