Detroit Catholic Central High School students spent Thursday, Oct. 15, cutting and tying strips of fleece into no-sew blankets for children facing hospital stays.
The two-hour service project, held from 2 to 4 p.m. at the Novi campus, was organized through Fleece & Thank You, a Michigan nonprofit founded in 2015 by Nicholas Kristock, a 2009 Catholic Central graduate, and Bryce Goulah. Students also recorded supportive video messages to accompany their blankets, according to the school's announcement.
Children and their families can send a thank-you video back to the blanket makers. That two-way exchange is central to the nonprofit's model.
The school's hockey team was among the volunteers. The DCC Athletics Facebook page described the Oct. 15 event as the hockey team's "annual Fleece & Thank You Day." Catholic Central has a longstanding connection to the organization, the school said in its announcement, with the Shamrocks hockey team a consistent presence at past blanket-making projects.
Kristock helped found the nonprofit after volunteering with hospitalized children while playing professional soccer in Australia, according to his account on the nonprofit’s website. While traveling home to Michigan, his twin sister, a pediatric oncology nurse, told him hospitals always need blankets. That message became the seed for the organization.
The blankets go to kids in Michigan and northern Ohio, according to the nonprofit’s FAQ page. Since 2015, the nonprofit says it has produced more than 130,000 blankets through more than 5,000 events.
Residents interested in volunteering with Fleece & Thank You can visit fleeceandthankyou.org.
