Volunteers passing out blankets Monday

Community Service Center volunteers will be distributing afghan blankets Monday during Martin Luther King Jr. Day festivities in Portales.

Center volunteers have been crocheting lap blankets year-round, which are distributed to individuals who are homebound or in nursing homes, said Phyllis Roybal, Retired Seniors Volunteer Program director at the center.

“We’re using it as a project for the Martin Luther King Jr. Day,” Roybal said. “The program is for National Family Caregivers Support program and Adult Day Care participants here at the center.”

Volunteers have brought in 32 blankets to be given away. They have been working on the afghans for some time and usually bring in three or four a month, but it depends on the person, said Roybal.

“We have some volunteers who can’t get out and do things in the community,” Roybal said. “So, they volunteer to crochet the lap blankets for us. That’s how they volunteer.”

The afghan giveaway was started by homebound seniors who were looking for a way to serve the community and still remain active.

“Throughout the year we give the afghans to nursing homes,” Monica Calamaco Foster Grandparent Program director said. “But for special occasions like MLK Day we take them to the homebound and things like that. It is a really heart-warming feeling to see their faces when we give them the afghans.”