A Towel Can Make A Warm Blanket;
Williamstown church holds towel drive for Cambodian orphans
 By Lori Jayko, Co-Superintendent of the Second Congregational Church Sunday School
The children of the Sunday school at the Second Congregational Church in Williamstown are always looking for ways to help others. In September and October they organized a "beach-towel drive" as part of a larger effort through the Warm Blankets Orphan Care organization in Cambodia. Warm Blankets runs a number of homes for orphaned children and requested beach towel donations. The towels make nice blankets because they are just the right size for the smaller children, they are easy to clean, dry quickly in the sun, and can be used to make cool tents in the dorms.
A member of the Sunday school announced the towel drive during the church service and asked members to place donations in a collection box located in the coffee hour area. A volunteer was kind enough to empty the box weekly and store the towels at her house. It was exciting to see the box fill up week after week, and see people unite to help this cause.
The children had fun looking at the different towels, holding them and wondering about the children who would receive them. One child even mentioned his happiness at being able to provide "blankets" for so many orphans.
When the towel-drive ended, the children counted the towels and sorted them into boxes of new and used towels. Thanks to the generosity of the congregation, they collected 57 beach towels. The Sunday school paid the shipping fees to mail the towels to Warm Blankets for distribution. It was special to help children living far away and, as one child noted, "to help people that have it worse off than we do."
God is still speaking -- and the youth in our church are listening.
Warm Blankets Orphan Care is a non-profit Christian mission, dedicated to the rescue of orphans and widows through third world church planting and orphanage outreach. Learn more at www.warmblankets.org.
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