Blanket America Gives the Opportunity to Share

Since the recession began in 2008, many Americans have been plunged into poverty. It is estimated that 35 million Americans are living below the poverty line. During President Barak Obama's inaugural address, he called our nation to action, requesting that we help each other during our nation's hard times. He also highlighted the face that, while Americans may not agree on most issues, we all have something we can give in order to create a better nation and lend unity. Though Americans all have different backgrounds, traditions and cultures from which they originated, our country can come together. Obama stated that "we know that our patchwork heritage is a strength, not a weakness."

With those fateful words, Mesh Gelman and his team of designers created a commemorative statement quilt to benefit charity. It's called the Patchwork Heritage quilt and it answers Obama's call to action. Blanket America's Patchwork Heritage quilt answers the call to action through its innovative new strategy: Buy One, Give One. That is to say, for every Patchwork Heritage quilt sold, a new fleece blanket is donated to charity. This innovative idea benefits both the consumer and charity.

The Patchwork Heritage quilt and its subsequent collection are garnering much attention in mainstream media. The online new portal Fast Company recently featured an interview with Gelman that highlighted the quilt's history and how the idea came about. The Today Show recently had Gelman on as a guest, where he kicked off the charity by donating five thousand blankets to charity.

Gelman and his crew are boggling the mind with the possibilities this project has created. What if the greatest economy in human history matched what it consumed with what it donated? By creating a buy one, give one opportunity, Blanket America is doing just that. They have set a goal of helping one million Americans in need.

Support for the project is strong. QVC began pre-sales of the Patchwork Heritage collection recently. Their pre-sales were quite impressive. JC Penney stores will carry the collection nationwide by January 23^rd. Amazon.com has had the collection available on its website for pre-sale since late November. Gifts in Kind International, a big name in charity, is acting as an intermediary to distribute the donated blankets throughout America. To show your support for the cause and to learn how you can help, visit http://www.blanketamerica.com/.