Representatives from Project Connect and Children’s Friend were on hand at the Johnston Senior Center Tuesday morning as members of the Giving Quilts Club donated 15 blankets that will largely go to kids from families affected by substance abuse.
Marie Lanzi, Fran Zanni, Evelyn Cedroni and Pat Baxter presented the quilts to Project Connect’s John Reis. The crew was all smiles as the quilts – representing about 30 percent of the club’s yearly output – were packed away in boxes.
“These blankets will go to kids that might be in foster homes, a lot of them will go to my program,” Reis said. “We work with substance abuse-affected families that are DCYF-involved. The kids may have been taken for a while and parents are recovering and whatnot.”
David Caprio, president and CEO of Children’s Friend, said that while Reis’s program serves more teenagers, his organization deals primarily with children aged about 5 to 8 years old. Children’s Friend provides a vast number of services, ranging from early intervention to clinical services. Caprio said Children’s Friend is also the oldest adoption agency in the state, helping children and family since opening its doors in 1834.
A letter from Children’s Friend vice president of external affairs Stacy Coutu, dated Feb. 21, 2019, after last year’s drive, thanked the group for its generosity.
“Thank you for helping us brighten the season for Rhode Island’s most vulnerable children,” Coutu wrote. “We could not do this work without you.”
Pictured with quilts are, from left, Reis, Lanzi, Zanni, Cedroni, Baxter and Caprio. (Sun Rise photos)
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