Photo Provided Carson Ogilbee, from left, Brooke Watson, Jenna Duvall and Megan Watson make a fleece tie blanket to donate to Harmony House Children’s Advocacy Center in Belmont County.

LANSING — Belmont County 4-H Teen Ambassadors will host its second annual Blanket Bash from 6-9 p.m. Friday at the Learning Center in Lansing, the former site of The Experience Church.

The 4-H Teen Ambassadors is a small group of teenage 4-H members who participate in various community service projects while promoting 4-H. This event will see the ambassadors make fleece tie blankets to be donated to the Harmony House Children’s Advocacy Center in Belmont County.

A fleece tie blanket is a blanket that has two layers of fleece material tied together by hand in place of sewing.

According to Belmont County 4-H Program Assistant Sarah Galavich, the event got its start last year when she urged the 4-H Teen Ambassador Group to do an initiative that would not only give back to children in the Ohio Valley, but would help them see the impact that they are making.

“We knew we wanted to do something that would help kids and I came across a grant from JoAnn Fabrics that gave us the funding to be able to start the project,” she said. “We were given a grant last year, and we were able to donate 127 blankets to the Harmony House.

According to the Harmony House’s website, the children’s advocacy center “is a comprehensive, child-focused program based in a facility that allows prosecutors, law enforcement, child protective service workers, medical and mental health professionals, and victim advocates to work together to strengthen our community’s response to child abuse. The child’s well-being is the first priority. The Harmony House exists to ensure that no child is further victimized by systems designed to protect her or him.”

The grant that Galavich is referring to is a $2,000 JoAnn Fabrics Mini-Grant.

Although the event is through the 4-H organization, it is open to the public. Galavich said people are encouraged to join in the making of the blankets or donating money or supplies to the organization.

“We still have one more shopping trip to go to get all of the fabric because it is quite a few carloads,” Galavich said. “But we do ask anyone who wants to bring additional fabric to bring it the day of or coordinate with me to make a monetary donation.”

She added that she wants to encourage first-time attendees to not feel overwhelmed when making the blankets, saying that there will be plenty of people at the event who have experience making the fleece tie blankets. She added that instructions will also be printed on all of the tables to ensure everyone in attendance knows what to do.

Although a date is not set for when the organization will be distributing the blankets, Galavich believes that it will be within the next week.