Students make blankets for the elderly
Latest News
March 18, 2021

Students make blankets for the elderly

By Mon Valley Independent

By ERIC SEIVERLING

eseiverling@yourmvi.com

The Residence at Hilltop in Carroll Township received a pleasant surprise recently.

Students from California Area High School told the assisted living facility they’ll soon drop off homemade blankets for the senior residents who live there.

Blankets for the Elderly is a community project started by high school seniors Raquel Rhoads, Alison Righetti, Jaime Sprenger and Sarah Bielawski as part of their Honors English class.

The girls are hard at work collecting donations and hand-knotting the fleece blankets in their spare time.

Righetti said the idea to donate the blankets came a month ago when a family member who works at the Residence at Hilltop put her in touch with an administrator at the facility.

“We wanted to target a group that was struggling with the pandemic,” Righetti, 17, said. “They were telling me how many times elderly people living there get cold.”

The students are still early in their project, but they hope to deliver 60 blankets to the facility sometime next month.

“We’re doing our best to get to all of them,” Righetti said. “We’re nearly halfway there.”

To read the rest of the story, please see a copy of Friday’s Mon Valley Independent, call 724-314-0035 to subscribe or subscribe to our online edition at http://monvalleyindependent.com.

Charleroi Area School District honors local veterans
Latest News, Main
November 7, 2026
Charleroi Area School District hosted a veterans breakfast Friday morning in the alumni room. Charleroi Elementary Center fifth-graders made signs to welcome the veterans. Displaying their signs are L...
Veterans Day services around the Valley
Around The Valley, Latest News, Main, ...
November 7, 2026
Numerous events are planned to mark Veterans Day around the Mon Valley and Pittsburgh area. Here is a look at some events scheduled to commemorate Veterans Day: Chess Park to be renamed at Monongahela...
AP Delsandro committee donates to Mon Valley Youth and Teen Association
Around The Valley, Latest News, Main
November 7, 2026
Thanks to the generosity of donors and fundraiser participants, The AP Delsandro Veterans Memorial Committee donated $2,500 to the Mon Valley Youth and Teen Association. Mary Anne Bandalo, executive d...
Dinner fundraiser launches Mon Valley Salvation Army’s Red Kettle campaign
Latest News, Main
By MICHAEL VINSICK mvinsick@yourmvi.com 
November 7, 2026
The organization has increased this year’s goal to $60,000. The Mon Valley Salvation Army received a lot of community support at its second annual Red Kettle kickoff dinner Thursday night. The event l...
Rostraver West Newton Emergency Services instructor honored for EMS education
Latest News, Main
November 7, 2026
RWNES President Jan Merlino received the Dr. Walt Stoy Excellence in Education Award. By TAYLOR BROWN Senior Reporter tbrown@yourmvi.com Jan Merlino has spent more than four decades teaching emergency...