Aurora area retired educators are giving back.
At their Tuesday, June 4, luncheon meeting at Lincoln Inn in Batavia, Aurora Area Retired Teachers Association members collected 55 Friendship blankets in an annual drive to warm patient at area nursing homes.
After the meeting, volunteers delivered the blankets to Batavia Rehabilitation and Avantara Aurora (McAuley Manor), Pearl of Orchard Valley, The Grove of Fox Valley, Elmwood Terrace and Jennings Terrace, all in Aurora.
The completed covers reflected a year of at-home work by AARTA members in the Friendship Blanket program, formerly called Warm Fuzzies. Top blanket maker was Margie Engberg of Oswego who sewed 23 covers.
Returning as program leader was Eva Balek of Aurora, a retired K-12 art teacher formerly in West Aurora School 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.”
—Al Benson