Central College students spent their afternoon tying blankets for those in need as part of a service project tied to Martin Luther King, Jr. day.

Americorps VISTA Sara Strader with the office of Community-Based Learning tells KRLS News the project was drafted as part of an annual tradition of volunteering at the college.

“The campus-wide theme this year is actually community engagement,” she says. “That’s sort of the heart of what our office does, so we decided to combine the mission of our office, the campus wide theme, and the spirit of Martin Luther King day.”

The blankets are going to the Care Bags Foundation, started by Central College alumna and Instructional Support Coach in the Pella School District Annie Foskett. Foskett says the blankets will be included in care packages they send to children of all ages who are displaced, abused, or disadvantaged.

“Care Bags is a non-profit organization I started when I was eleven, after my mom had talked to me about crisis and foster care, and how kids have to leave their homes without anything of their own. So it was a really small idea to try and make that really difficult situation maybe a little bit easier by providing them with comforting, essential, safe, age-appropriate items,” Foskett says.

In total, approximately 30 students made over a dozen blankets to help those in need. Hear more about service-based learning at Central College on today’s Let’s Talk Pella.