The Salvation Army’s Wrap Up Louisville event garnered donations of at least 5,000 blankets from University of Louisville Greek organizations.
The event, in its seventh year, works with members of Sigma Chi Fraternity, this year joined by six sororities from the University of Louisville, to gather blankets that will go to provide warmth to people in need.
And they make it fun — members of the Greek organizations bring in the blankets and build forts with them to fit a certain theme. This year’s was “space” and the winning team judged to be the most creative earned a trophy.
Roland Le, the philanthropy chair for Sigma Chi, said it’s both fun and symbolic: building forts with the blankets reminds donators that some people live on the streets and need to construct temporary shelters in the cold.
“All the blankets are going towards people that don’t have homes,” Le said. “This is keeping them warm. All the blankets that go into this are keeping them warm.”
He said while people get excited to come and try to build the best fort they can, “At the end of the day, I think that everyone realizes that we’re motivated because it’s a great cause.”
The blankets supply shelters, go to people in need through the Angel Tree program and are available through the White Flag program in which the Salvation Army opens its doors to the homeless when temperatures drop below 32 degrees.
Debra Lovell, the special events manager for the Salvation Army, said the thousands of blankets brought in every year at this event last several months.
Ranging from rolled Walmart fleeces to hand-made crocheted blankets, they will each find a forever home with someone this winter.
