Luthercare for Kids—Annville has launched its annual blanket drive in support of Blankets4Zane, collecting new, store-bought or handmade blankets to benefit children who are hospitalized.
Donations will be accepted at the early learning center, 40 S. King St., Annville, through November 10. The center hopes to collect 250 blankets this year.
The blanket drive is in memory of Zane Witmer, and Luthercare for Kids—Annville has a special connection to the Witmer family as Zane and his brother attended the center. The family operates the Zane A. Witmer Memorial Foundation and its annual Blankets4Zane drive, which donates blankets to children’s hospitals.
The Witmer family lost Zane, age 2-1/2, following a drowning accident in Florida in 2017, and today they work to advocate for water safety, education and drowning prevention. Each year, as they approach his birthday, they collect and donate blankets as a way to celebrate and remember Zane. The blankets carry a heavy significance for the family, as each night he was hospitalized, they snuggled him into bed with a soft, cozy blanket that had been donated by generous and caring people through the Child Life program.
On November 21, what would have been Zane’s 7th birthday, the family will be traveling back to Golisano Children’s Hospital of Southwest Florida to deliver blankets, and their goal is to deliver 1,121 blankets – Zane’s birthdate.
Blanket donations can be dropped off at the Annville center between the hours of 6:30 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. For more information, call the center at 717.867.4660. To learn more about Blankets4zane, visit www.BecauseofZane.org.
1st Annual Blanket Delivery to Golisano’s Childrens Hospital of SW Florida November 21, 2017. (Source: becauseofzane.org)