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Nancy Cotton

Students Eleni Melhelm'24, Alex Lupo'26, and Ella Telegadas '24 holding up their finished blanket during a blanket making meeting at the Country Club of Detroit.

Blanketed with Love, run by Nancy Cotton and her council filled with students from Grosse Pointe South, is a nonprofit organization that collects, makes, and donates around 1,000 blankets a year to local organizations that support and house people in need during the winter months.

Nancy Cotton and her family took over Blanketed with Love roughly 10 years ago when the Blake family, their neighbors, and the creators of the organization, said they could no longer run it. Since then, the organization has made tremendous strides and has been bombarded with support as it’s become more prominent in the Grosse Pointe community.

“The people in our community do support it, I’m always overwhelmed, shocked, and thankful,” Cotton said.

Blanketed with Love’s purpose is not only to provide warmth and protection to people in need but to make a difference in the lives of those receiving the blankets. This is the reason that the organization makes these blankets themselves, rather than just donating store bought blankets. Members will also write kind messages and attach them to add a personal touch to the blankets.

“Sometimes the notes are even more meaningful than the blanket, to know that there’s someone out there who knows they exist, cares about them, and who took the time to make and figure out a way to specifically deliver these blankets to them,” Cotton said. “Sometimes I think that’s the most powerful part about it.”

Cotton also chooses to make the blankets instead of buying them because of how it impacts the volunteers.

“I do think the cool part is that people feel like they’re making a difference in a tangible way,” Cotton said. “Instead of just sending in a donation online and who knows where it’s going, they feel connected to the organization and the people they’re making the blankets for.”

Blanketed with Love doesn’t have a specific meeting schedule, they post most of their updates on their Instagram account @blanketedwithlovegp, and anyone is welcome to show up and make blankets. A typical meeting is filled with good food, singing and laughing positive messages, and of course blanket-making. People are also encouraged to make blankets at home and send them in.

One of Cotton’s most special memories comes from a particularly cold winter a few years ago. Blanketed with Love brought more than 500 blankets to the Holy Trinity Church while they were hosting a warming event and serving breakfast to 1,000 people in Mexican Town, Detroit.

“The woman that runs the breakfast at the church just started bawling when she saw the blankets and she kept saying she didn’t know if it would be her last year helping these people so she was extra grateful,” Cotton said. “She just couldn’t believe it.”