Lions Park community in Mount Prospect delivers 430 blankets to hospital

Students, teachers and members of the Graver family at Lions Park Elementary School in Mount Prospect recently presented Advocate Lutheran General Children's Hospital in Park Ridge with 430 blankets for pediatric patients.

The Lions Park Knots of Love blankets were made by students and community members in support of Lauren Graver, a second grader at Lions Park, who is fighting cancer. Lauren had received such a blanket when she was first admitted for treatment, and it meant a lot to her.

"All 430 blankets had to be washed, tagged, and bagged, which was a huge undertaking, but, with the help of staff, parents, and community members we were able to get it done in a timely manner," Toby Black, Lauren's teacher, said in an email. "Each blanket was tagged with a heart that students at Lions Park colored, many of them with words of support and encouragement written on the back. A sticker was placed on each colored heart that said, 'Made in honor of Lauren Graver and tied with love for you!'"

People who worked on the campaign, which was led by several teachers at the school, rented a van to transport the blankets to the hospital. Hospital staff members helped unload the blankets. The volunteers used a gurney and a wheelchair to get them up to the pediatric floor, where they were joined by one of Lauren's doctors.

Lauren was diagnosed with rhabdomyosarcoma, a rare muscle-based cancer, just a month before starting second grade. She has been attending classes when not receiving chemotherapy and radiation treatments. While she still has months of treatment left, her cancer is responding well, Black said.