LAWRENCE: Blanket drive aiming at 2K goal by Jan. 5

By Lea Kahn, Staff Writer
   With several hundred blankets in hand, Kayla Jackson’s fourth annual Kayla Cares if You’re Cold blanket drive is well underway.
   The Lawrence Middle School student is aiming to collect 2,000 blankets between now and Jan. 5 to be distributed to dialysis centers, homeless shelters and the American Red Cross for victims of Superstorm Sandy.
   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 seventh-grader at the middle school, collected 250 blankets in 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 four years ago, 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 fourth-grader at Lawrence Intermediate School, saw an old blanket and asked whether she could give it away to someone in need. Ms. Jackson 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 may 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 they 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.