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  • Students from Floyd Central High School made and donated no-sew blankets and cheer baskets for the residents at Providence Retirement Home and Robert E. Lee. Photo by Tiffany Adams

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March 30, 2012

A gift of care baskets: Floyd Central students donate time to brighten the day of seniors

By TIFFANY ADAMS newsroom@newsandtribune.com

FLOYDS KNOBS — Students from Floyd Central High School made and donated no-sew blankets and cheer baskets for the residents at Providence Retirement Home and Robert E. Lee.

The students had to provide the material for the blanket and the supplies that they put into the cheer baskets, and each blanket took about three hours to make. In the cheer baskets, students put crossword books, Kleenex boxes, lotions, chap stick, socks and playing cards.

Suzie Moss started the project in the fall, while Julie Hanen and Deann Thrasher, teachers at Floyd Central High School, were in charge for the spring. In all, 21 baskets and 70 blankets were donated.

“I built off of Suzie’s idea for the spring and came up with the idea for adding on the baskets,” Hanen said.

About 60 students participated, with some students turning in more than one blanket.

Hanen teaches economics and U.S. history at the school, and the economics courses have a community-service requirement. Seniors have to have 20 hours of community service for the year and freshman who take Deann Thrasher’s career information class have to have four hours. By making a basket or a blanket, students were able to receive 2 1/2 hours of service time.  

“A lot of students with sports and jobs have a hard time finding time to do community service,” Hanen said. “If they could do something like this on their own time and bring it in, then it would be helpful to those people at the retirement home.”

Dylan Scharff, a senior, made a basket and a blanket.

“It seems like a lot of people from nursing homes feel exiled from the community,” Scharff said. “It’s nice to remind them that they are not and people still care about them.”

Since freshman are unable to drive, Thrasher dropped the gifts off. Her father lives at Providence Retirement Home. The students delivered their gifts to Robert E. Lee Nursing and Rehab Center personally.

“I think this is great. Next year, I hope to tell my students earlier in the semester and to get more of a response,” Hanen said.

Thrasher told Providence it was OK to split up the baskets so each resident could receive something. The items will go to the residents who need them the most.

“Providence was extremely excited,” Thrasher said. “They have called me several times and are very grateful.”

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