By Aimee L. Cook | [email protected]

South Valley - Hundreds of students at Bingham stayed up late one night in December to tie blankets for the children being served by the Victims Advocacy program. As part of their ‘True Blue” service projects and in an effort to serve their community, students gathered after a basketball game to create something they could give to the community. That night, they stayed until midnight and tied 125 blankets.

“I have a friend who had been abused by his family when he was younger,” Liesel Bradshaw, a student who started the blanket project, said. “He’s my age and doesn’t live with his family anymore. Hearing his story made me want to help kids who are in those situations. My neighbor who is a cop is always taking donations of stuffed animals and blankets for the kids he has to pick up. He has told me that it’s heartbreaking to have to pick them up and drive them to a strange place with nothing to comfort them. I saw the opportunity to change that with the late night service and went for it.”

The Victims Advocate programs are sponsored by local police departments and is ran by staff and several volunteers. Their purpose is to assist and advocate for victims of domestic violence, child abuse, harassment, etc. Advocates provide a safe place for victims and offer support and resources. 

Senior student body president, Arza Helm, wanted to keep the blanket tying activity going, and hopes to keep it as a tradition at the school. 

“One of our goals is to try and build traditions within True Blue that are centered around service and giving back to the community,” Helm said. “The same project was done last year, and so to build a tradition we decided to follow in the footsteps of last year.”