'The need is higher than ever': Project Warm-up needs 3,000 blankets for children

One of Sioux Falls School District's longest running fundraisers is in dire need of additional support this year, officials said. 

Project Warm-up has been around for 15 years gathering donations and blankets for families and children in need during the winter. This year though, because of the ongoing pandemic, the fundraiser has seen the number of those in need increase significantly, said Tracy Vik, co-founder and Sonia Sotomayor Elementary Principal.

Each year, organizers host a large blanket-making party, but that tradition's been canceled because of concerns about the virus, Vik said. 

"Making a blanket may seem like a small thing, but to a child who is in the hospital or facing foster care or just lost their parents or guardian, it could mean the world to them," Vik said. "The need is higher than ever."

In a typical year, school social workers from each campus helps identify how many blankets are needed for children in their schools. As the blankets are made, they're boxed up and delivered to campuses shortly before the holiday season and throughout the school year as needed, the project's website states. 

Because of the pandemic, Vik's asking this year though for donors to get creative with their blanket-making by still making blankets at home when they can and delivering them to her campus, she said. 

Teaching children to make them through youth groups or sports teams is a great way to still help meet the need, she said. 

"We've also had students who have lost someone very close to them, whether it be to COVID-19 or other things," Vik said. 

Project Warm-Up has distributed more than 25,000 blankets to children and families in need since it started. And many of those children face poverty, homelessness, death of a parent, placement in foster care or serious illness and some are even new to the country and South Dakota winters, the website states. 

The project has partnered with groups like Habitat for Humanity, the Teddy Bear Den, the Heartland House, along with Delivering Hope-Chemo Care Bags for children undergoing cancer treatments and families who went through natural disasters in the region.

During the last school year alone, the the district identified more than 1,100 students as homeless, Vik said.

Last year, Edison Middle School reported needing blankets and support for 180 students they supported from the Heartland House, a rapid re-housing program for homeless families with children. This year, the need has grown to more than 280, Vik said. 

At least 239 of those are children ages zero to 10, confirmed Tammie Denning, the Heartland House Community Services Director.

A few years ago, the Heartland House had a donation shed for people who wanted to drop off blankets, but that space no longer exists, though the need has increased, Denning said. 

"People have lost their jobs, and aren't making as much as they used to," Denning said. "It's harder for some of our people to just go out and just buy the things they need, which would include blankets, and Project Warm-Up really helps with that need and that gap."

Officials will be collecting blankets, fleece and funds each school day from 7:15 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Dec. 12 at Sonia Sotomayor Elementary, 1510 S Lake Avenue, according to a press release from the district. 

No sewing necessary. It's just a matter of cutting two pieces of fleece, tying the ends together and then dropping them off at the school's vestibule, she said. 

The blankets will sit for a couple of days before they're delivered to help mitigate any spread of the virus, Vik said. And a family doesn't have the time to make a blanket, but can make a donation, every bit helps, Vik said. 

One donation of $100 can provide blankets to eight children, the project's website states. 

So far this year, the project has brought in 522 blankets, but in the grand scheme of overall need, 500 isn't nearly enough, Vik said. The goal is to make at least 3,000 this year, the website states.

"We just want to make sure those families know we're thinking of them and want to give them something to call their own," Vik said. "Blankets provide not only physical warmth, but also can warm your heart, knowing that someone made that for you."