story and photo by Alandria Barker // Contributor
For the Thanksgiving holiday, most people are gearing up to volunteer at a local food bank giving meals to the less fortunate or maybe hosting canned food drives to donate to their favorite charities.
One of MTSU’s newest organization’s, Ladies for a Change, has developed a unique way of spreading love this Thanksgiving with its Sock and Blanket drive for the homeless.
Adaysha McGgill, co-chair for community service, explained why the ladies chose to collect socks and blankets versus the usual food drives that happen around Thanksgiving each year.
“We know that homeless people need food, but we also know that they need to keep warm,” McGill said. “It’s the time that it’s starting to get cold so we need to give stuff that’s gonna keep them warm. Feet are an area where you get sick, it’s that central nerve area, so we wanna get socks so that they’re warm and we wanna get blankets so that they can stay comfortable at night wherever they are.” McGill commented that they were able to gift some unique blankets to the homeless. She stated that one of her favorite blankets to give away was a beautiful, personalized photo blanket. She thought not only would it be something personal to the new owner, but it would keep them warm.
All last week, members of Ladies for a Change gathered in the Student Union to collect cash donations, blankets and socks.
McGill said they also made the event fun for themselves by including some competition within the organization to see which committee could raise the most donations.
She says that the competition is fun, but the bigger goal is getting as many socks and blankets as they can so that they can personally deliver them to those in need around the square in Murfreesboro and to the Salvation Army.
“We’re just trying to make sure that we do everything we can to lift our women up, but also to lift the community up as well,” she said.
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