blanketing boise

gb-logovia Greenbelt Magazine, by Elisabeth Sharp McKetta

Hundreds of local homeless Boise residents receive warmth from the idea of one thoughtful woman and her rallying company and community.

617140_422604774459960_826884010_o

Anyone who has ever had or been a child understands the significance of blankets. My toddler daughter says a longer, more tender goodbye to her blanket than she says to her father or to me.
Three years ago, Laura Herrick, an account director with Foerstel Design, worked with her company to create the Boise Blanket Drive after recognizing the transformative power of blankets to help the homeless.
Foerstel Design is located near 16th and Main Street, near the hub of Boise’s homeless care facilities. One autumn night in 2009, Herrick and a colleague were working late. When they left the office they were struck both by the sight of so many homeless people overflowing from the shelters and also by the thought that for most of the year in Boise, these people are out in the cold. Herrick knew that Boise has a generous number of food and coat drives, and it occurred to her that these people could probably use blankets.
“A good blanket can keep a family warm all night,” Herrick says. Both she and her colleague had unused blankets at home, and so they brought some back the next day.
The response was overwhelming. The homeless shelter invited Herrick to their annual memorial service, always held the day before Thanksgiving.
“It was such a touching ceremony,” Herrick says. “It is an outdoor vigil with candles and a bonfire. The shelter provides a big dinner for the homeless that night. The ceremony honors the homeless who have died during the year, telling personal stories about the value of those people’s lives.”
The ceremony includes an assortment of religious rituals, in hope of speaking to as many people of different faiths as possible. A local bagpipe player volunteers the music. And this year, for the third year in a row, the ceremony will include the gift of blankets.
Now every year Foerstel Design creates posters for the Blanket Drive, places them around town, and offers their office as a receiving place for donated blankets. The Blanket Drive has had a generous turnout of givers in its first two years, which goes to demonstrate one of the many wonderful things about Boise: if you give people here an avenue for helping others, they will use it. And many people have extra, unused blankets in their houses.
To participate, bring a clean blanket in good condition to Foerstel Design (located at 249 S 16th St, Boise, ID 83702) during the two weeks before Thanksgiving. Blankets do not have to be new.
Baby blankets are welcome, too. Roughly one-sixth of the homeless population is made up of children, from babies to pre-teens. One year someone brought a stack of Disney blankets, and the homeless children were over-the-moon excited.
There are a thousand worthy ways to donate to the community: you can give time, give blood, give money, give toys, give clothes. In giving blankets, the people at Foerstel Design have found a way to give that helps the homeless keep warm in more ways than one.
“A coat is functional,” Herrick says, “but a blanket is personal.”

Share this post

Book a Consultation
Tell us about yourself
Send Us A Message
Tom Foerstel : Founder & President

Tom Foerstel

Founder & President

Growing up in the San Francisco Bay Area in the 60’s, Tom developed a strong desire to create positive change for people and planet.

 

He went on to pursue his passion for art and design at Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California, and worked for design firms in Southern California before moving to Boise, Idaho in the early 80’s. Foerstel Design opened its doors in 1985. Since its inception, the firm has cultivated a bold, happy, forward-looking team focussed on creating distinct and effective work on behalf of their clients.

 

An integral part of Tom’s philosophy is giving back to the community in which he lives — a company cornerstone that drives Foerstel’s long history of providing pro-bono services to local non-profit humanitarian and arts programs.

 

One of Tom’s proudest personal achievements is his ability to say Supercalifragilisticexpyalidocious backwards.