Comforting the community

• Tying blankets

Bailey Elementary third and fourth grade students made hand-tied blankets Nov. 29 to be donated to the Union Gospel Mission in Minneapolis.

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Bailey Elementary teacher Kristine Matulka is currently teaching her third grade Gateway, or gifted and talented, students about communities. What better way to teach them about communities, she figured, than to get them out in the community?

Matulka’s students, as well as two other classes, came together Nov. 29 to make 24 hand-tied fleece blankets that will be donated to the Union Gospel Mission in Minneapolis.

“I wanted them to realize that you need to give back to your community and the importance of doing so,” Matulka said.

Union Gospel Mission collected the blankets on Thursday, Dec. 1.

Matulka said she decided to do the project this year because it was a great opportunity to introduce her students to community service.

“It’s important to instill community service at this age so that as they grow older they continue doing it,” she said. “These children are very blessed, so we need to do something for those who are not as fortunate as we are – that’s something really important we need to teach them.”

Matulka contacted Union Gospel Mission with the project idea since she has donated to the organization in the past.

Union Gospel Mission is a Christian ministry dedicated to serving the homeless, poor and addicted in the community.

“I know they most often do meals, but I asked them if they could use blankets and they were overjoyed,” Matulka said. “We have no idea how much these families are going to use and enjoy these blankets because so many of them come with nothing.”

For the project students brought in both monetary and fabric donations from their families. Matulka used what money they collected to purchase the fleece for the blankets.

“A lot of the students volunteered to bring in their own allowances – they were so excited about the project,” she said. “It was just an outpouring of support.”

Matulka said she hopes to make the blanket project a yearly tradition at the school.

Tags: news, education, communities