Blanket America Set to Help a Million in Need

Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 st1:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";} On January 20 th , 2009,almost exactly one year ago, Barak Obama took the stage to give his firstspeech as President of the United States. The country was in turmoil after thecrash of the housing market and the credit crunch fully hit home. It waspainfully obvious that the hardest times in generations were now upon us.   Obama's campaign was built on hopeand the promise of change. What he told us next was that the change would haveto begin at home. "What is required of us now is a new era of responsibility—arecognition, on the part of every American." For the first time in a longtime, the American public accepted the truth. That responsibility is not adirty word, but a truism. It truly hit home that night how much trouble ournations was in. Obama asked us for unity and explained to us that the racial,ethnic and religious segregation we subject ourselves too has got to stop."Our patchwork heritage is a strength, not a weakness."   That night, millions of peopleacross the globe watched as Obama spelled out the true situation at hand. Hewas calling our nation to action, calling us to unite as one. Mesh Gelman, a Manhattan bed, bath andwindow covering store owner was in his shop watching the address with hisdesign team. When the words "patchwork heritage" were spoken, he gotan idea. What if the greatest economy in human history matched what it consumedwith what it donated? That night, Gelman and his team vowed to answer Obama'scall to action.   In the coming months, thePatchwork Heritage quilt was born and the Blanket America charitableorganization created. Gelman based his charity on the assumption that morewould be donated if the consumer got something in return. Therefore, BlanketAmerica would offer the Patchwork Heritage quilt for sale and with every salemade the proceeds would go to buy a warm blanket for someone in need. Soon, theidea caught on and big name organizations gathered in support of the cause.This January, almost one year to the day after President Barak Obama's speech wasmade, the collection will be released to the public. All in all, it a perfectway to raise to the challenge that Obama set before us.

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