From BOWLING GREEN HIGH SCHOOL
Senior Bowling Green High School DECA member, Mack Maxey, has been invited to speak on Mon, Nov. 9, at the Detroit Athletic Club at Fleece & Thank You’s Night of Gratitude. Night of Gratitude brings together some of Fleece & Thank You’s biggest supporters, sponsors, families, and friends for an evening of reflection and appreciation. One of the meaningful parts of the night is hearing directly from the families they serve and sharing the impact that a fleece blanket and connection can have during a hospital stay.
Fleece & Thank You is a nonprofit organization that specializes in making fleece blankets with personal, supportive video messages and then delivering the blankets to children in hospitals all around Michigan and northern Ohio. The nonprofit is celebrating its tenth year of operation
Mack was one of the early recipients of a Fleece & Thank You blanket when she was admitted to the University of Michigan Mott’s Children’s Hospital. Mack had just turned 9 years old when she was admitted for a life-threatening and rare autoimmune disease known as juvenile dermatomyositis. Mack’s colorful monkey fleece blanket made a significant impact on the comfort she felt in her hospital bed and helped to calm her worries.
As a senior, Mack is excited to partner with her Bowling Green High School DECA chapter, a satellite program of Penta Career Center, and have the Fleece & Thank You experience come full circle to make an impact on other children faced with a hospital stay. Mack and her DEVA project management team recently hosted a virtual meeting with Heather Wilson, Fleece & Thank You’s blanket outreach coordinator, to learn more about the history of the nonprofit organization and hosting a large community fleece blanket-making event. Some of today’s senior DECA members also remember making fleece blankets with the 2018 DECA chapter members when they were in Mack’s 4th grade class.
When Mack speaks on Monday, Nov. 9, to the founders, sponsors, and supporters of Fleece & Thank You, her message will be from the heart of a 9-year-old girl, sick and worried, who learned the power of a fleece blanket and community.
