Blanket Drive for Oishei Children’s Hospital

The Orchard Park Girls Varsity Soccer Team, under the leadership of Olivia Kirk and Keely Thorpe, have been collaborating with Senator Tim Kennedy for the last 3 years on collecting blankets for children who are being treated inpatient at  Oishei Children’s Hospital in Buffalo.

This teambuilding/community service idea began when the two teammates read about the Senator’s Warm Up Western New York initiative years ago. The teammates learned that Oishei strives to have a blanket for every child that is treated there. It is a sense of comfort for them during treatment and possibly makes them feel not so far away from home. Keely and Olivia have been teammates for many years, have a passion for service, and thought this would be a great way to get our soccer team involved.

The first year they collected 50 blankets ( during COVID), the second year 150 and over 200 this year.  This year the leaders decided to invite all OP girls fall athletes from all sports to join in a team building, blanket making event. Over 80 female athletes from OP fall sports attended and together they  made over 80 blankets.

Each year, Keely, Olivia and the OP Girls Varsity Soccer coaches, Mike Graffeo and Joe Adamec,  have met Senator Kennedy and the Oishei team at the hospital to drop off the donations. A plan is in the works for this year’s drop off.

Olivia and Keely felt that this project was simple service, meaningful and manageable. Their hope is that the soccer program will continue a service project every year as they are graduating in June.

My teammate, Keely Thorpe, and I (Olivia Kirk) have been working with Senator Tim Kennedy for the last 3 years on collecting blankets for children at Oishei in Buffalo.

This started when I read about the Senator’s Warm Up Western New York program years ago. Keely and I have been teammates for years and have a passion for service. We thought this would be a great way to get our soccer team involved.

The first year we collected 50 blankets ( it was Covid time), the second year 150 and are now striving to beat that this year. We decided this year, our senior year, to invite all girls fall sports to join us in a team building, blanket making event. Over 80 female athletes from OP fall sports attended and we made over 80 blankets.

Each year, we have met Senator Kennedy and the Oishei team at the hospital to drop off the donations. We plan to do this again. We are collecting until November 1st. 

Keely and I both feel that this simple service is meaningful and manageable. We hope that our soccer program will continue a service project every year. Our coach Mike Graffeo has been incredibly supportive.

When we initially inquired about the program, we were told that Oishei tries to have a blanket for every child that is treated there. It is a sense of comfort for them and possibly makes them feel not so far away from home. That was all we needed to hear and we took it from there!