Warm and fuzzy feeling: Volunteers show 'Spirit to Serve' at Lincolnshire event

The warmth filling the big banquet room Tuesday at the Lincolnshire Marriott Resort came not just from the bright sunshine on a crisp autumn day.

It also poured from the hearts of volunteers making 100 fleece blankets for families receiving care at the Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago.

“The blankets you're making today help the families feel more like they are home,” Aaron Conn, corporate gift officer of the hospital, told the group.

At Tuesday's “Spirit to Serve” event, part of Marriot's Global Customer Appreciation Week, customers and clients of the resort were treated to lunch before they started slicing and tying fringes into the colorful blankets. Representatives of many local companies stood elbow to elbow as they worked.

Volunteers also could receive a hand massage from The Spa of Lincolnshire.

“But only if you make at least three blankets,” joked Marriott General Manager Brad Lajoie.

The blankets were folded and stacked on a long table in the sun as volunteers came and went.

“These will be gone by the end of the month,” Conn said.

Lurie serves about 220,000 families annually and recently doubled its number of inpatient beds to 360.