Virgil Sharp, left, Milford Fire Chief, left, and Isaac Winters show off a tie blanket that was part of Winter’s KYLA project.
Winters and his team made 90 blankets to donate to area EMS to offer warmth and comfort to individuals during calls.
Winters took his share of the blankets to his church where they were completed as a community service project. Photo provided by Isaac Winters.

By Lauren Zeugner
InkFreeNews

WARSAW — One of the community service projects highlighted during the Kosciusko Youth Leadership Academy graduation, held May 1, was called Warming Hearts.

The team, made up of students: Amy Brown, Colton Crabb, Gabi Griffith, Jetta Hughes, Kohen Schipper and Isaac Winters, representing Whitko, Tippecanoe Valley and Wawasee High Schools, decided to make tie blankets to various organizations.

Hughes explained she got the idea from her mom, who works in EMS. She wanted to do something similar to earlier programs where stuffed animals were collected for first responders to hand out to frightened children they encountered while answering calls.

Instead of collecting stuffed animals, Hughes suggested blankets.

The team raised $550 in donations.

“We went to JoAnn Fabrics (and) we purchased 50 blankets (kits),” she said in a phone interview. Hughes said a lady at another member’s church heard about the project and purchased more fabric for them to make blankets.

“My mom thought it was an incredible idea, and she was so proud we accomplished our goals,” she said.

The team members divided the tie blanket kits among themselves.

“The blankets were not difficult to create, “ Winters said in a text. “It took me about an hour to make one myself. When I announced this service opportunity at my church, people of all ages decided to help me. The most challenging aspect was coordinating a meeting time for everyone, but we overcame this through calls and texts.

“A lot of ladies from my church liked to sew in their free time, so they were more than happy to make blankets for our cause. It felt so good to have so many help out. I felt like God blessed us with a lot of help, and if we didn’t have this much help, then I don’t think we could have helped out this many communities.”

Warming Hearts made approximately 90 blankets. Blankets were distributed to EMS in Syracuse, Whitko, Milford and Mentone.

“The purpose was to provide these blankets to be kept in EMS trucks, so they would be readily available in case of accidents or emergencies where individuals may need immediate warmth and comfort,” Winters explained.

“What we did didn’t seem huge, but it impacted people. They mattered,” Brown said in a phone interview.

She gave unfinished blankets to Fellowship Mission so clients could put together a blanket as a craft project they could keep. When she dropped off the blanket kits, she said a staff member was thrilled.

Schipper worked with another organization to put his set together.

Warming Hearts, along with the other project teams in this year’s KYLA class, started working on their projects in August.

All three students enjoyed participating in KYLA.

“I liked getting to know leaders from other schools,” Brown said. “We had our ideas, and we’re used to having them followed through. Here, everyone’s input is important. We all wanted to be heard. Sometimes it’s hard to step back and let others be in charge.”

Of the $550 Warming Hearts raised, the team spent only $200. The remaining $350 was donated to Fellowship Mission.

KYLA’s first class was held in 1994-95. Class size ranges from 25-35 high school juniors. Students from Lakeland Christian Academy, Tippecanoe Valley, Triton, Warsaw, Wawasee and Whitko are eligible to apply to the program as are students from the four counties that feed into Kosciusko County.

Today, over 200 community service projects have been completed by KYLA graduates. The students involved in the Warming Hearts project hope a group from next year’s KYLA class will pick up where they left off.

“If that doesn’t succeed, we hope to get the group back together, raise some funds, and make the blankets,” Hughes said.