LAWRENCE: Brrr! Kayla needs your blankets

By Lea Kahn, Staff Writer
   With just one blanket in hand and 1,999 more to go, Kayla Jackson kicked off her fourth annual “Kayla Cares if You’re Cold” blanket drive last week.
   While shoppers were busy checking off their gift lists, Kayla and her mother, Kathi Jackson, set up shop outside the Lord & Taylor department store at the Quaker Bridge Mall on Black Friday to begin the blanket drive.
   Several people stopped to pick up fliers the Lawrence Township mother and daughter were handing out. The goal is to collect 2,000 blankets that will be distributed to dialysis centers, homeless shelters and the Red Cross for victims of Hurricane Sandy. The deadline is Jan. 5.
   Drop-off locations for the blankets include Bossio’s Deli on Lawrence Road, Old Navy at the Quaker Bridge Mall, the Lawrence Township Senior Center on Darrah Lane, Shaffer’s Tailers Cleaners and Men’s Shop on Brunswick Pike (the former Swiss Bakery site) and Empower Fitness at the Lawrence Shopping Center.
   Kayla, who is a 7th-grader at Lawrence Middle School, collected 250 blankets the first year of the blanket drive and about 1,200 blankets the next year. Last year, she collected about 1,050 blankets.
   Realtor John Simone of the Lawrence-based Simone Realty has offered space to store the blankets.
   ”There are a lot of people who are cold,” the 12-year-old girl said. “I know a lot of people don’t have a home because of Hurricane Sandy and it’s really cold outside.”
   The blanket drive got its start when Ms. Jackson was going through the annual seasonal changeover, putting away the family’s summer clothing and bringing out the winter clothing.
   Kayla, who was a 4th-grader at Lawrence Intermediate School, saw an old blanket and asked whether she could give it away to someone in need. Her mother thought it was a good idea and “Kayla Cares if You’re Cold” was launched.
   For the blanket drive, new or gently used adult and children’s blankets are being sought. Dialysis centers need them because patients often become chilly while undergoing the hours-long process. Blankets also will be distributed to homeless shelters because residents might not have one.
   The blanket drive has expanded beyond Lawrence Township and into Delaware, Maryland and Virginia, Ms. Jackson said. An employee at the University of Delaware who has ties to Ewing Township has organized a drive at the college, she said.
   Three volunteer fire companies have signed on, as well as one volunteer fire company in Virginia. Ms. Jackson said her brother and her cousins belong to volunteer fire companies in those states, and they were inspired to kick off their own blanket collection drives after hearing Kayla speak about it.
   The other fire departments thought it was a good idea and set up their own drives.
   And the Lawrence Middle School has launched its own blanket drive to help Kayla meet her goal.
   For more information, email Ms. Jackson at [email protected], visit KCCblanketdrive.blogspot.com, or check out Facebook.