KINGSTON, Pa. — The sounds of snipping scissors filled a room at the JCC in Kingston as people were hard at work making fringe blankets.
This event was inspired by a similar event Cathy O'Donnell attended last year elsewhere in Pennsylvania.
"Same thing, JCC NAACP came together. It was a program put on by Gov. Shapiro at that time in Harrisburg, Philadelphia, and Pittsburgh, and I knew when I participated, the Valley with a Heart was a perfect place to bring it," said O'Donnell.
This day of service is in honor of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and what he fought for during the civil rights movement.
"Everyone here together today and really bringing that true sense of unity and community," said Aliah McPhaul, the manager of multicultural and inclusion initiatives at Misericordia University. "It makes your heart kind of bubble up a little bit because you're just so excited to see that everyone has a great heart to give back to the community."
The blankets being made will go to those in need at Ruth's Place and Keystone Mission in Wilkes-Barre.
"At a time where it's so gravely cold, these blankets are getting divided up evenly, and they are going to those two places today so that they can be used tonight," explained O'Donnell.
No materials will go to waste. Volunteers who showed up from Penn State Wilkes-Barre will take the scraps to make cat toys to send to shelters.
"This can't happen without our friendships and our partnerships. And we have some really good partners in this community," said Daryl Lewis, the assistant secretary of the Wilkes-Barre branch of the NAACP.
The large turnout gives volunteers and organizers a sense of pride and a sense of hope.
"It means a lot. It means just being able to have a true sense of community and bringing people together just for the simple basis of human needs, giving dignity back to people that may not have that opportunity or those resources to be able to do what they need to do," said McPhaul.
"That showing their respect for the achievements of Martin Luther King Jr. as well as their hopes for the directions of the community in terms of how they want to serve. It's very reassuring to be here in everybody's presence," added Lewis.
Organizers hope to make this an annual day of service in Kingston.