“A Hug in Every Blanket”: Local School Service Project Keeps Minnesota Oncology Patients Warm

Teacher Kate Gant had always wanted do a service project with her fifth grade at Lyndale Community School.

“It was around the holidays, and I thought instead of doing little gifts for my students we should figure out a way to give back to the community,” Mrs. Gant said. “I’ve heard of classes making blankets for people in hospitals, and my mom is a patient at Minnesota Oncology so I thought how great would it be to give blankets to the patients there while they are getting treatments.”

Gant’s coworker, Laurie Grussendorf, loved the idea and wanted to do it with her fourt grade class as well. In all, 32 fifth graders and 29 fourth graders participated in the project. Altogether, they donated 17 blankets to Minnesota Oncology Edina Clinic patients.

“My hope is that my students learned to give back to the community,” Mrs. Gant said. “That a simple gesture of giving will help them learn to be well-rounded people in the future.”

“I like to think there’s a hug in every blanket,” said Jill Lee, office manager at Minnesota Oncology Edina Clinic.

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