Happy 2022! We are heading into the second half of our 6th season of handing out Blanket Wraps and want to let people know what we have been up to!
As some of you know, our family moved to Florida. A big decision and move but it did not deter us in any way of doing what we love for the people in and around Detroit. It has forced us to think more creatively about MK Blanket Wraps and still do what we love. First, our parents gifted us a storage unit so we have a place to store Blanket Wraps and our summer sewing class supplies. We have machines down in Florida and have not stopped sewing! Our sewing room was in the basement of our Michigan house but Florida has no basements so we have a sewing corner in the house. Even though Mackenzie can’t help us sew (she is a freshman at the University of Michigan), she handles all the social media, blogs (like this one :), finds events and answers emails. Kate and Avery continue with sewing Blanket Wraps and shipping them up to Michigan. Our family flies up to Michigan to visit Mackenzie at U of M so when we are there, we find places to volunteer and hand out Blanket Wraps. We also have some great volunteers who have stepped in to help us and we can’t thank them enough. Our heart is still with the homeless people of Detroit, we will never stop helping them!
For the past 6 years our family kickoffs off Blanket Wrap season with handing out at the Thanksgiving Lunch hosted by Mike Diesel and the Detroit Youth and Dog Rescue. We could not go this year (flights were sooo expensive!), but we did order food and have it delivered for the lunch. We are excited to continue working with him for different holiday events throughout the year.
Our first event to kick off the season was with the Ark Association. The first time we went, it was too warm for Blanket Wraps but we helped serve lunch and spend time with our “street family”. The next time we visited it was a different story…IT WAS COLD! The Ark Association lunches are always served outside in front of the Old Michigan Train Station. It can be pouring rain or a blizzard, but lunch is ALWAYS served as people depend on this. We rolled up our Blanket Wraps and they were gone in minutes. On a dark, cloudy, cold day, people loved the idea of something warm and colorful. Our easy-to-wear Blanket Wraps continue to be useful to people who have to carry lots of items (like lunch!). AND, we had one our kid size Blanket Wraps on the rack and gave it to a very cute 4 year old little boy. We put it around his shoulders and snuggled him up. His smile melted our hearts!
Due to funding, shelters in Michigan don’t start opening up until December so we decided to take 2 trips up that month. Our first visit was to ChristNet. They are located in Taylor. We delivered about 28 Blanket Wraps that day. Our second visit was to the Welcome Inn Day Center. The Welcome Inn Day Center is one of our favorite shelters to visit. We met the director Ben our first year of handing out Blanket Wraps. It was at the Spread the Laughs Comedy Show and Silent Auction event that raises money for the shelter. We donated a few Blanket Wraps to raffle off. Now 6 years later, he continues to be an inspiration to us for all the work he has put into helping people. The Welcome Inn had some challenges this year with buses breaking down and power outages but that didn’t stop Ben and his staff. They used their own cars to get people to shelters so they wouldn’t have to sleep on the streets. And, they put in a grant request to hire a full time case worker to help accelerate and mentor people on the housing process. The housing process can be extremely overwhelming with the amount of paperwork and follow up that needs to be done (We have seen this tedious process done each summer at DRMM). Now imagine you don’t have a computer, permanent address or maybe even a cell phone. Ben and his team help navigate this process and get people into permanent housing!
As we handed out our Blanket Wraps at Welcome Inn, Kate and Avery talked to a lady who recognized and was excited to see us from last year. It makes us feel happy and sad when people recognize us – happy in the fact that they love our Blanket Wraps but sad that they are still homeless. Her prior Blanket Wrap was unfortunately stolen, so we were glad to give her a new one. She looked over all the colors and patterns and finally decided on a purple one that reminded her of her mom. One of the best parts of handing out Blanket Wraps is listening to people tell stories about why they have chosen their Blanket Wrap. It can be as simple as “green is my favorite color” or “the flowers remind me of the flowers in front of my house when I was growing up. I used to help my mom in the garden and pink flowers were her favorite.”
Kate and Avery did something unique this year to honor the 2022 MLK Jr. Day of Service. They had the opportunity to attend the Ryan Nece Foundation Youth Leadership Summit in Tampa. They spent the morning listening to impressive speakers such as Rodney Bullard, Vice President of Corporate Social Responsibility at Chick-fil-A, talk about service and community. After this, all the attendees were matched with a local non profit to work do work in the community. They asked Kate and Avery if they would like to do 2 service projects and they were up for the challenge! The first project was at the Humane Society of Tampa Bay. Kate and Avery had never volunteered with animals before. They spent the entire afternoon walking and getting to know intake dogs and feeding all types of animals (they have pigs, rabbits, cats, etc.). After that, they drove to St. Petersburg to serve dinner to the homeless at the Trinity Café at Feeding Pinellas. The Trinity Café was extremely impressive! Held in a church, the dinner is served like a restaurant. Guests come in and find a table. Kate and Avery (our mom too) were assigned to tables to act as “waitresses”. They would first take their drink order, then bring out a salad and then the main course. The food looked and smelled delicious. After dinner, dessert is served. The “bus boys” clear the table after a guest leaves and gets it ready for the next guest. It looked and felt like a real restaurant and EVERYONE is treated with respect!
We have plans to return a few more times this winter/spring. The stack of Blanket Wraps is growing bigger every week and we want to get them out ASAP to people who need them! If you know of someone who would like to help hand out Blanket Wraps, please contact us. We love volunteers!
Stay tuned for future updates including summer plans (including our Summer Sewing Classes!) by following us on Facebook and Instagram.
Happy New Year!
Mackenzie, Kate and Avery
