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WARREN -- Alice Boorn was a seamstress for 65 years in the Bristol and Champion areas.
She made prom and wedding dresses for each of her three daughters and two granddaughters. So when she died Aug. 12 at Windsor House of Champion, her family knew exactly how to honor their matriarch.
Instead of flowers, they asked for donations to the activities department at the nursing home, where Boorn had spent many hours since moving there in January after a stroke.
Her daughter, Sandy Cellio of Champion, then came up with the idea of making blankets for the residents there as a Make A Difference Day project.
Trumbull County Make A Difference Day, sponsored by the Tribune Chronicle, is a day when local volunteers give of themselves to improve their communities. This year's event, the 16th annual, is Oct. 13.
A series of health problems landed Boorn at Windsor House and Cellio said she and her sister, Cheryl Olney, as well as Cellio's two daughters, Tammy and Rebecca, would visit daily. The women became friends with many of the residents, as well as staff members, and they continue to visit the facility on a regular basis.
"I noticed that some of the residents did not have a lap blanket, so we decided to make some for them. We already have 25 made and we are hoping to do more," Cellio said.
She said because they know the residents personally, they are customizing the blankets to each resident, such as sports teams for the men and certain colors for the women.
"Some of them are cotton quilts with batting, some are machine stitched flannel and some are the tie blankets," Cellio said.
Other groups are collecting and making blankets as well, including Girl Scout Troop No. 598, headed by leader Barb Rosenblum. She said her five girls, ranging in age from 6th to 12th grade, already have made and collected 49 blankets in the past several weeks. The troop made and collected 142 blankets last year, but Rosenblum said seven of the girls graduated in May, so her "staffing is down."
The blankets will be donated to the Emmanuel Lutheran Church coat closet in Warren, who then distributes them. Some of the blankets go to nursing home residents and others are donated to the homeless.
In addition to collecting and making blankets, the girls also will make pillows and collect winter coats for the church's coat closet.
"This is such a good project and it feels good to make someone warm and comfortable that doesn't have anything," Rosenblum said.
She said the girls are taught how to sew the blankets, but they like to make the kind that tie.
"We work on the blankets every Sunday and for those few hours, they are not on their phones. They are just working and talking to each other," Rosenblum said.
Quilts from the Heart, headed by Pat Deascentis, has been making blankets for ill children at Akron Children's Hospital and St. Joseph Warren Hospital since Make A Difference Day began. She said local Girl Scouts and six women from New Jerusalem Church in Warren also help. Last year, the group made 50 to 60 blankets for Make A Difference Day.
However, Quilts from the Heart makes blankets every Tuesday all year and they donated a total of 1,000 blankets last year.
"But Make A Difference Day is our big push and that's when we get the most help. The Girl Scouts are great. Those little fingers work faster than our old arthritic ones," Deascentis said.
Blankets of Love, based at Domestic Sewing Center on Youngstown Road in Warren, also is collecting blankets for ill children in local hospitals. The group, headed by Linda Fabrizio, also has been participating in Trumbull County Make A Difference Day since its inception.
Domestic Sewing Center's affiliation with the national organization Blankets of Love is a year-round effort, but they also do an extra push for Make A Difference Day.