Sometimes a big idea begins with a very small question.
For Fleece & Thank You founder Nicholas Kristock, everything started when his twin sister, a pediatric oncology nurse, asked him to make a fleece blanket for one of her patients.
Nicholas had already built much of his life around service. While studying at Oakland University, he and several soccer teammates co-founded a nonprofit to help pay transportation costs for children attending mission trips. After graduation, he moved to Australia to play soccer and spent much of his free time volunteering with children in hospitals.
So when his sister asked for that blanket after he returned to Michigan, he was happy to help. But he was also curious. Could she use more blankets?
The answer was simple: Always.
He began calling other pediatric units and hospitals throughout Michigan and heard the same thing. There was a consistent need for something that could bring a little warmth and comfort into an environment that no child wants to be in.
That simple request became Fleece & Thank You.
“We know a blanket is never going to fix a broken leg or cure cancer,” Nicholas explains. “But we believe showing up at the starting line can make all the difference.”
That starting line is important to him. A child may be entering the hospital frightened and uncertain, while parents are suddenly facing a world of doctors, tests and questions they never expected. Fleece & Thank You wants something comforting waiting when they arrive.
The blankets themselves are colorful and handmade, but there is another piece that makes each one especially personal. Every blanket includes a 30-second video message from the individual or group that made it. The child and family receiving the blanket can even send a message back.
“The blanket creates comfort and the video creates the connection.” Nicholas smiles.
That connection can be powerful in a hospital room. For a child, a hospital can be an isolating place. Their familiar world of home, school and routines can suddenly be replaced by medical equipment and unfamiliar faces.
“We want that child to look at their blanket, watch that message and know there is a real person on the other side rooting for them.”
Families have told Fleece & Thank You that the blankets brighten difficult days and often become treasured keepsakes long after a child leaves the hospital.
“That is when you realize the true impact isn’t just the fleece itself,” he explains. “It is the feeling that somebody showed up for you.”
Today, the organization has an ambitious goal. About 30,000 children undergo hospital treatment in Michigan each year, and Fleece & Thank You wants every pediatric inpatient to have a blanket and personal message waiting for them.
Nicholas emphasizes that the key is consistency.
“We don’t want comfort to depend on the time of year, which hospital you’re in or whether there happens to be a donation available that day. We want to build a sustainable service that shows up for kids every day of the year.”
Michigan is the starting point, with a longer-term vision of expanding the model throughout the Midwest and eventually across the country. Partnerships with organizations including the Detroit Red Wings and Detroit Tigers have helped bring greater visibility to the mission, while businesses, schools and thousands of volunteers provide the hands and hearts behind it.
That community spirit will be on full display January 18-19 in the Troy area during Fleece & Thank You’s Make a Blanket Day, held in partnership with Troy Schools. The second day coincides with the Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service, giving families another opportunity to turn a few hours of their time into something meaningful for a child. (Follow @fleeceandthankyou and visit fleeceandthankyou.org for more details.)
Another idea has grown from Fleece & Thank You, one centered on a word that has always been among the organization’s core values: Grateful.
At large events, they needed a way to distinguish volunteers in the crowd. But simply printing “VOLUNTEER” across their shirts didn’t feel right.
He started asking, what do we call these people? All these people who are grateful for the opportunity to serve, grateful to show up with their time and talents, who were they? They were grateful humans, he decided.
Grateful Humans. The phrase went on a shirt. Volunteers loved it. Soon, other people wanted one too, and the trademarked Grateful Human brand was born. Merchandise sales now help support Fleece & Thank You and fund additional blanket kits.
Yet for Nicholas, being a Grateful Human is less about what someone wears and more about how they live.
“Being a Grateful Human is more than saying you’re grateful,” he says. “It’s about what you do with that gratitude, and the ripple effect that happens when you turn a simple feeling of thankfulness into impact.”
This philosophy brings the entire mission full circle. Thousands of people give what they have, whether that is a few hours, financial resources or simply two hands capable of tying a fleece blanket, and use it to comfort someone they may never meet.
“I feel incredibly grateful for the people, opportunities and resources I have been given,” Nicholas continues thoughtfully. “And with that comes a responsibility to use them to serve other people.”
In the end, that may be the real story behind every blanket: tangible gratitude. Strangers choosing to show up for a child at the moment they need it most.
GRATITUDE IN ACTION
· Fleece & Thank You set the Guinness World Record for 2,017 no-sew fleece blankets made in eight hours. Some 1,316 people came together for Make a Blanket Day in 2019 in Rochester Hills. Even after a severe thunderstorm took down the tents, the community kept going and ultimately broke the record.
· In 10 years, Fleece & Thank You has engaged 400,000+ volunteers, made over 150,000 blankets and has held over 5,000 events.
Feeling grateful? Get involved by visiting GratefulHuman.com to shop Grateful Human merchandise or visit FleeceAndThankYou.org to learn more about making a blanket, donating or how to join Make a Blanket Day January 18-19.