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Students warm hearts in Lynchburg by providing blankets to those in need

Blankets were in low supply this year at Park View Community Mission in Lynchburg, and members of Liberty University’s new Family and Child Development Association (FACDA) responded to the need.

Liberty students Rachel Koenig, Megan Wight, FACS instructor Janet Brown, and Madelene Gwaltney deliver blankets to Park View Community Mission.

Senior Rachel Koenig, a Department of Family & Consumer Sciences (FACS) student who serves as a part-time employee at the mission, mentioned the need to the club, which decided to hold a blanket drive for children and families.

“This time of year many of our neighbors, the people we serve, cannot afford to heat their homes and must rely on warm clothing and blankets to keep their families warm,” Koenig said.

Koenig has been working at the mission since June and has loved getting to know the neighborhood residents who come there. The mission serves people in the fourth poorest zip code in Virginia, providing them with food, mentoring, affordable health care through a community clinic, and other resources. Its vision is to empower and educate individuals and families and help free them from a life of poverty.

The club collected more than 60 blankets and delivered them on Nov. 16. Koenig, along with FACDA’s President Madelene Gwaltney and Treasurer Megan Wight, delivered the blankets.

“When we handed out the blankets, people were so excited and so thankful,” Koenig said. “They could not stop thanking us for them; there was a true need.”

“It was an amazing experience to be able to donate all of the blankets,” added Gwaltney. “We knew that we were able to help so many people, and we were grateful for the opportunity.”

The FACDA is a new club that began at the start of the semester. It is open to all undergraduate students pursuing a degree or a minor in the Family and Child Development program. Members must attend three meetings and participate in one service project each year.

“We hope events like this help to bridge the gap between individuals of different socioeconomic levels and ultimately to build a stronger community, one in which service for one another is spurred on by love for each other,” Koenig said.

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