Under the leadership of the Christian Student Fellowship, interfaith and affinity groups on campus plan to share comfort, warmth, and solace through the Interfaith Prayer Blanket Project.
Through this project, the Christian Student Fellowship will come together with Alianza Latina and the Jewish Student Union (JSU) to knit three blankets.
Two blankets will go to Lawrence General Hospital and the Welcome Blanket Project. The third blanket will stay on Andover campus and go to the Sykes Wellness Center in memory of Daniel Nakajima ’18.
“The interfaith prayer blanket would be a physical manifestation of the blessings and good intentions we wish upon the recipients,” wrote Victoria Laurencin ’18, co-president of the Christian Student Fellowship, in an email to The Phillipian.
The Welcome Blanket Project, according to its website, encourages discussion around immigration policy and delivers homemade blankets to new immigrants in the U.S.
Cindy Espinosa ’18, cohead of Alianza Latina, said the blanket symbolizes warmth and peace.
“It’s supposed to be a long blanket, a symbolic way to welcome refugees and immigrants at the border, and especially because those people traveling there won’t have any necessities,” said Espinosa.
Espinosa said that she hopes the project will send a message of solidarity and awareness for immigrants and undocumented people outside of the Andover community.
“It’ll be a visible statement to our stance on protecting immigrant rights and helping undocumented people, given all the rhetoric of anti-immigration,” she said.
The Interfaith Prayer Blanket Project will take its initial steps this week. Participants plan to sit in Paresky Commons during lunch hours for donations and materials.
“We are hoping to finish this project by the end of the term… We also encourage anyone who is interested to join… I am also a co-president of our knitting club on campus, Yarnover, so I am able to teach anyone interested how to knit,” wrote Laurencin.
