By Shelby Stewart-Soldan
ssoldan@mihomepaper.com
Brandon Twp. — This month, the Brandon Adult Skills for Employment program donated 24 fleece tie blankets to the Hurley Hospital Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.
“BASE collected donated fabric from generous community members and used it to create 24 tie blankets as a part of community service program,” said BASE coordinator Leah Vagaski. “Student gained fine motor skills, measurement practice and were able to give back.”
BASE is a program through Brandon schools for developmentally diverse adults, 18-26, to gain skills for employment and independent living.
“We have BASE team meetings each morning, and we were talking about giving back and the importance of it, and hospital donations came up for one possibility,” said Vagaski. “I had a son in the NICU before, so we looked at what the hospital and the NICU might want.”
Between fleece that the program already had and donations, they were able to make 24 blankets for donation.
“It was really cool,” said Vagaski. “When we went to donate, the director Lydia told us how her daughter was in the NICU, and while her daughter was there 20 or so years ago, they gave her a blanket from the NICU, and she kept it as a comfort item for years. So although we’re helping those babies right now, it can ripple beyond just the NICU.”