Retired educators from the Aurora area are giving back.
At their Tuesday, June 6 luncheon meeting, Aurora Area Retired Teachers Association (AARTA) members donated 70 homemade blankets.
After the meeting, volunteers delivered the blankets to Batavia Rehabilitation and McAuley Manor (Avantara Aurora), Pearl of Orchard Valley, The Grove of Fox Valley, and Elmwood Terrace, all in Aurora.
The completed covers represented a year of at-home work by AARTA members for an annual Friendship Blanket program, formerly called Warm Fuzzies.
Returning as program leader was Eva Balek of Aurora, a retired K-12 art teacher formerly in West Aurora School District 129.
Balek said, “COVID-19 challenged our flexibility to continue our blanket donations, but we are back on track collecting and giving our beautiful craft work to community nursing homes.”
Founded in 1958, Aurora-based AARTA is a nonprofit social-service group that includes about 350 retirees from Fox Valley school districts.
Membership is open to retired teachers, administrators, support staff members, and spouses.
AARTA holds membership luncheon meetings at 11:30 a.m. on the first Tuesday of February, April, June, October, and December, at Lincoln Inn in Batavia.
Prospective members are invited.
For more information, call (630) 921-1307 or visit aurorartdtchrs@outlook.com.
—Al Benson