Broomfield Academy Students Give Blankets From the Heart

Broomfield Academy Students Give Blankets From the Heart

Children Collect Over 50 Blankets for Heart Patients at Children’s Hospital

BROOMFIELD, Colo. — Over the past month, Broomfield Academy students have been collecting blankets for sick children in the pediatric cardiology ward at The Children’s Hospital in Aurora, CO. As part of a month-long service-learning project, the first grade students at the school collected over fifty blankets that will be donated to the Hospital. The fuzzy blankets will help to give the children in the cardiology ward comfort and a sense of home.

Mrs. Caroline Parrill, a first grade teacher at Broomfield Academy, has a special connection to the project. Chance, her grandson, was born with a rare heart condition and had open-heart surgery when just five days old. While in the hospital, Chance’s mother Teresa met Julie Roper of Highlands Ranch and Shaina Nunnelly of Colorado Springs. The families quickly became friends as all three of their sons were undergoing open-heart surgery in their first days of life at the Children’s Hospital Cardiac Intensive Care Unit.

Nearly one year later, all three of the boys are healthy and are developing well, thanks to the care from the doctors and nurses at Children’s Hospital. To show community support, the three mothers decided to form Colorado Cuddles From The Heart, a program to collect blankets for the hospital. The blankets are a special thank you and tribute to the tremendous support and care they received.

Ms. Parrill thought this project was a perfect for her school, which has a strong program of character education. “The children at Broomfield Academy have a great understanding of the importance of giving to others and helping others to feel better. With the assistance of Mrs. Graham, the other first grade teacher and her class, our students had great success collecting the blankets.” On October 6^th, Chance and his father picked up the blankets that were collected through the project. On November 5^th,, the three families will deliver them to The Children’s Hospital as a gesture of appreciation. “The students of Broomfield Academy are proud to support this program and to be able to put their character education into practical use,” commented Pat Garner, Broomfield Academy Principal.

Colorado Cuddles From The Heart continues to seek donations of new, handmade, or store-bought blankets for children of all ages. To-date, the Colorado chapter has collected over 600 blankets, including the fifty blankets collected this month by Broomfield Academy students.

For more information visit http://mygratefulheart.wordpress.com/ and http://www.broomfieldacademy.com.