Student athletes at Aurora University had their hands tied up in knots Tuesday afternoon inside Thornton Gymnasium at Alumni Hall on campus but none of the dozens working seemed bothered whatsoever.
Gabrielle Wolff, 22, of Greenfield, Wisconsin, said working with her fellow athletes on an annual charity project aimed at providing blankets for children has been something “I’ve been doing since my sophomore year.”
“I’m a senior now and our women’s basketball team is all here,” she said. “I think it’s nice to do something not only for the kids this goes toward but for the whole athletic department and everyone coming together and supporting each other.”
The university’s Student-Athlete Advisory Committee once again sponsored the 21st annual event at the school to support Project Linus, a Belton, Missouri-based nonprofit group that since 1995 has given away more than 9.3 million blankets to children in hospitals, shelters, group homes and more.
Organizers said last year’s effort at the university netted a total of 60 blankets.
“We have 24 athletic teams on campus and we have everything from a handful of athletes to a whole team that are attending this,” said Morgan Stenson, who serves as Assistant Director of Athletics for Compliance and Business Operations and Senior Woman Administrator for Aurora University. “We are cutting blankets and teams are tying them and working within their groups.”
Stenson said that no special skill sets were needed, calling the project “pretty easy and straightforward.”
“It takes anywhere from five to 15 minutes to make one of these depending on how many people you have, and last year we did it in record time,” Stenson said.
Material for the blankets came from Joann Fabrics, Stenson said, which has been an annual contributor.
“We usually do this every February and students always know about it. They donate $1 each and we’ll use that money to go over to Joann (Fabrics) and get it at one sitting to have it ready for the next event,” Stenson said. “We’ll be donating to Rush-Copley’s Waterford Place Cancer Resource Center and we actually have a few of their workers and volunteers on hand to help.”
The court inside the gym was packed with tables as well as teams sitting on the floor between noon and 1 p.m. Tuesday where the blanket project took place.
A scoreboard in the corner of the gym featured a running clock that was counting down the hour as well as the current total of blankets finished. The final total was 92 blankets.
Nate Cashmore, 22, of Grayslake, said he is the president of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee and this was his second year helping to organize the event.
“We bought our fleece early which was helped with Black Friday and our pricing,” Cashmore said when asked what, if anything, he did differently this year. “We were able to get a little more material this time because of the better pricing.”
Wolff said the only skills needed were “effort and wanting to do it for a good cause.”
“You really just have to know how to cut the blanket and tie the knots,” she said. “People enjoy doing this and being together.”
Macy Kocen, 22, of Gurnee, said this was her second year taking part in the project and that the team “completed four (blankets) last year as a team and then we ran out (of material).”
“It’s a good cause and brings our team and athletic department together,” Kocen said. “I’ve never gone to the clinic or hospital to see the kids actually receive these, but it would be cool to do. We know this is coming each year and we’re ready for it. Sometimes, I think there is some friendly competition to see who can do the most.”
Kamryn Bullock, 20, of Orlando, Florida, said this was also her second year as part of the project.
“I think everybody is in good spirits and everybody wants to help,” she said Tuesday. “We have about 20 players here from basketball and I sent one text this morning and one last week and we got pretty much the whole team here.”
David Sharos is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.
