By Wendy Kemp

We are all excited by the wonderfully warm weather we are having right now, but just last week we had temperatures that were well below zero. Can you imagine living outdoors in the bitter cold and not having a warm home to go to?

As I prepared to partner with the Southeastern Michigan Red Cross for their Blanket Days event, I thought about the importance of a blanket. My favorite way to relax at home in the winter is with my favorite blanket reading on the couch or watching TV. Think about all times we use a blanket and how things would be different if we didn’t have one…we wrap our new born babies in blankets, we bring our puppy home in a blanket, or pets have their favorite blanket and I have even on occasion seen teenagers drag a blanket around. Who can forget the lovable Peanut’s character, Linus, who taught all of us that a blanket is more than just a blanket.

During January and February of this year we have had some bone chilling weather, which made our support of Red Cross’ Blanket Day’s program seem even more vital to the well being of the community.

Last month we transformed the Quicken Loans lobby into display area for the Red Cross Blanket Days program, 96.3 the River radio station was on hand to play music, the Red Cross Hummer and Emergency Response Vehicle were out front and Fox 2 broadcast in the morning that we would be collecting blankets at the Quicken Loans office to help shelters though out southeastern Michigan. By the end of the day Quicken Loans and Fathead team members, along with some wonderful people from the community, had donated more than $1,500 and collected almost 200 blankets to support the Red Cross’ disaster relief program and area shelters. Not too bad for a day that did not reach over 17 degrees.