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Local Charity Shares Love Through Blankets
Celebrating 25 Years in Westerville
My Very Own Blanket (MVOB), a Westervillebased nonprofit organization, will celebrate its 25th anniversary in October. The organization, located at 407 W Main St., provides personalized blankets for children and teens in the foster care system to give the youth a sense of security during uncertain times.
CEO and founder Jessica Rudolph, came up with the unique charity idea in 1999 when she was knitting a blanket in her children’s nursery. The busy mother of three children under 3, at the time, knit to stay occupied each night as her children fell asleep. One night, as she worked on the blanket, she thought Who can I give this blanket to? which led to the idea to give it to a child in foster care, because she had heard the children often did not have many possessions.
Rudolph did not have prior experience with the foster care system, but decided to work on the blanket with plans to donate it to the county system the following holiday season, and encouraged friends and family to do the same.
"My mantra was, 'If we all do a little bit, then together we can accomplish a lot,'" said Rudolph. "I was so busy and so was everyone else, but I thought 'I can knit one blanket over the course of the year.'"
Rudolph was right. The first year, she collected and donated 84 blankets from friends and family to children in need through the area county children services. The following year, she expanded her network and received 526 blankets and gave them away to agencies in 16 counties. Since that time, MVOB volunteers have donated hundreds of thousands of blankets to children and teens in need, which has made a powerful impact on their lives.
“Every blanket gets a special tag that says ‘A special gift of love made just for you,’” said Rudolph. “These teenagers and kids need to see love. They feel like they’re not lovable, but the personalized blankets are a way to show them that they are loved.”
Throughout the years, Rudolph has overcome challenges, such as adjusting the company’s inperson workshops to a virtual model during the COVID pandemic and reducing the facility size, to meet donation goals. After making the tough decision to downsize the business’ 5,000-squarefoot facility and reduce the amount of nonblanket donations the organization accepted and housed, MVOB met its goal of donating 10,000 blankets in just six months. Every year after that, MVOB has raised its goal by 5,000 blankets, and not only met it, but exceed it. This year, the company is on track to give 40,000 blankets to youth in need.
MVOB still hosts in-person and virtual workshops and has a flourishing community of volunteers that they refer to as "blanket angels".
“The volunteers have built such beautiful relationships with each other and fellowships, because they created these little groups and it was just beautiful to see. I’m so thankful I was able to do that for them,” said Rudolph. “Twentyfive years later, so much has come out of it that I wouldn’t have ever been able to see and the blessing that it also provides for the volunteers.”
Volunteers include students, older adults and even imprisoned individuals who often have been touched by the foster care system at some point in their lives, as well as individuals and corporate groups. Virtual workshops, which were a necessity during the pandemic, remain popular and have helped the organization expand globally to reach children across the world.
One of the largest events was a company virtual event that resulted in 980 blankets. MVOB also hosts multi-city events across the United States, and has established a presence in the U.S. Virgin Islands, Canada, England, Ireland and Australia. Plans are in the works to partner with foster care agencies in Zambia at the end of the year. As the organization expands globally, Rudolph has kept her "keep it local" model.
“When we went global, my thought was the same–stay local,” said Rudolph. “We work with local fabric stores in the community that the volunteers serve, get the kits made, then provide them for volunteers and then they donate them to local children in need. This way, when volunteers make their donations, they get to see that it’s going to the right place and they get to hear the stories and receive the thanks. It gives them value and purpose to give back.”
The organization also partners with other charities throughout the country to give children backpacks to accompany their blankets since many do not have anything to carry and transport their personal belongings in.
“We’re giving love to these children and teens whose lives are uncertain,” said Rudolph. “They don’t know where they’re going to live or what school they’re going to go to, but they know this blanket and they can hang onto it.”
To learn more about MVOB, their 25th anniversary celebration and how to get involved, visit www.myveryownblanket.org.
