Tennessee Valley Student Service Award Winner: Carden Mayfield
Tennessee Valley Student Service Award Winner for April 2019
Student: Carden Mayfield, Senior
School: Bob Jones High School
Project: Cuddle Buddies Weighted Blankets
About Her Service Project
Carden began making weighted blankets for elementary students with autism, ADHD, and severe anxiety after she started working in a Special Education classroom at Columbia Elementary in Madison, AL. She noticed if some students became upset they would start a specific sort of “stimming” like hitting themselves to help manage their stress. “The only way we are able to get them calmed down is to hold them tight.”
After thinking about the problem, Carden came up with the idea of using weighted blankets for comfort, and Cuddle Buddies was born.
She gets together with friends and other volunteers to help hand-sew weighted blankets and deliver them to SPED classrooms throughout Madison. So far they’ve made 34 blankets, and she hopes to fill requests for at least 20 more this month. So far, she funds the supplies herself with help from donations from friends & family.
How You Can Help Support Cuddle Buddies
Volunteer to help sew blankets
Make a donation for supplies
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