April flowers bring May flowers, but what does January bring? At Swissdale United Methodist Church, January brings blankets. Year after year, the Lock Haven, Penn., congregation exceeds its goal of collecting enough money for CWS to purchase 100 blankets. Since 2000 the church has raised more than $8,000 for the Blankets+ program through its January collections.
Shirley Probst says they hang a CWS blanket in their church and post play money to represent each donation they receive. Their January gifts go a long way in providing warmth and comfort to those recovering from a disaster.