SHINE President Breona Brogan, a sophomore majoring in psychology, said she co-founded the club in April to help support students and the community. She said she reached out to the DCH Foundation to host the drive.
Kaylee Crenshaw, special event and annual giving manager at the DCH Foundation, said the institution is a kind of “fundraising arm” of the hospital.
Crenshaw said that after Brogan reached out to her in July about hosting a blanket drive, she looked into which DCH department would benefit from the drive.
“I reached out to our NICU, and turns out they were in desperate need of some blankets for our withdrawal babies,” Crenshaw said. “Those are babies who are going through withdrawal from various drugs their parents may have been on.”
Crenshaw said that during a one-day stay at the hospital, children may go through five to 10 blankets.
Brogan said she came up with the idea to host a blanket drive since she was in and out of hospitals growing up and wanted to give back.
“I would recognize how sometimes one of the main things that we needed, like a home away from home, was having a simple blanket,” Brogan said.
Brogan said the club is no longer taking fabric donations, but monetary donations can still be made until Sept. 22 at Houser Hall or the DCH Foundation. The club will use these monetary donations to buy fabric to make blankets.
SHINE will be making the blankets at Houser Hall during the week of Sept. 18-22, and all three organizations will deliver the blankets on Sept. 23.
“We currently have over 200 donations total,” Brogan said.
While SHINE proposed the blanket drive, Brogan said the organization partnered with Omega Psi Phi in July.
KJ Hall, a senior majoring in sports management and president of the UA chapter of Omega Psi Phi, said he would be interested in helping SHINE host another blanket drive in the future. Hall would love to collect as many blankets as possible but hopes to have around 400 donations by the end of the drive.
“The whole purpose is for the kids,” Hall said.
Crenshaw said she is glad the drive is spreading awareness and raising funds for withdrawal babies throughout the community and would be interested in partnering with SHINE in the future.
“I hope that we can just provide some warmth and comfort to those patients who are going through a difficult time,” Crenshaw said. “Hopefully we can bring some peace of mind to their parents.”
