The roads have been salted. My driveway has been, too. The i-things have all been charged. We have plenty of food. Toilet paper. Oreos and popcorn. The fireplace is even operational, with plenty of blankets to go ‘round.
All life’s essentials, right?
Essentials. It’s funny how that definition is so fluid when someone like me, who lives in the wealthiest nation on the planet, takes stock in a time of crisis.
After all, it’s only snow, even though the warning here in the U.S. comes complete with a warning in screaming letters
WINTER STORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 6 PM EST
TUESDAY…
HAZARD TYPES…HEAVY SNOW WITH BLOWING AND DRIFTING.
SNOW ACCUMULATIONS…12 TO 16 INCHES.
Hunkered down in New Jersey, the essentials our family holds dear are more like dubious luxuries for those served by a CWS Blanket.
I’ve seen families use them to carry belongings away from a volcano eruption in Indonesia. One family offered me tea in their tent in Pakistan while their first-born son was swaddled in a blanket. Still another CWS Blanket lingered behind in the rubble of a Mississippi family’s home following Hurricane Katrina, as if waiting for my visit.
Yet it’s this winter storm here in the U.S. that reminds me of a blanket’s most functional purpose: to provide warmth. Comfort. Some security from the dangerous cold.
When the calls come from shelters, seeking a bale or two of CWS Blankets to help people in need shake off the cold of this blizzard, a CWS Blanket isn’t just a blanket. It’s a message that someone cares enough that another human being is warm and safe.
And what’s more essential than that?
Show someone you care. Your $10 buys 1 CWS Blanket today.
Matt Hackworth is CWS’s Director of Marketing and Communications.