A service project at Hershey Elementary School has benefited the homeless, veterans and others in need. Fifth grade teacher Annie Dooley says her hybrid class wanted to make an impact in the community and were inspired by a news story about the Cover Lafayette Project.

Before winter break, in-person and virtual students held several blanket-making sessions to create more than 30 blankets.

“We made the blankets by putting two pieces of fabric together then someone would cut the fringe and someone else would come around and tie double knots,” explains student Campbell O’Brien. “I learned that helping homeless people or helping anyone in need feels good and it only takes one gesture to make a big difference.”

Classmate Adam Rummel says when all the blankets were finished, they selected which ones would go to Cover Lafayette, the Indiana Veterans Home and the YWCA shelter. “I brought in two blankets that had words that were encouraging about sports,” Adam says. “We decided that it would probably go to children who would love it.”

Dooley hopes her students have learned the value of helping others: “I hope that this service project that we did together will ignite a passion for helping others and will make my students more cognizant of the reality that many people around us are in need.”