The Honors Student Association is bringing Warm Up America — a nationwide program in which volunteers knit or crochet squares to make into blankets that are donated to people in need — to the University.

Anyone is welcome to get involved with the project, which caters to people short on time, said Vicki Lang, a member of the project’s organizing committee.

“It’s so easy for anyone to get involved,” she said. “Especially for people who don’t have a lot of time to commit to volunteering. You can do this while you watch TV.”

The blankets will be donated locally, says Lang, especially to children in foster care.

“It’s a really neat thing, especially for foster kids because they don’t have a lot of stuff that is their own,” she said. “They have to move from house to house a lot and this is something they could take with them that would be consistent.”

The 7-by-9-inch squares can be dropped off at the Honors Office, 104 University Hall. Forty-nine of these squares are then connected to form a blanket.

Students are also encouraged to donate yarn for the project.

Lang will give crochet or knitting lessons to anyone who wants to learn how for the project and will hold workshops for student organizations that would like to get involved.

According to Lang, it only takes 45 minutes to a half-hour to learn how to crochet. The blanket squares can be made in as little as 20 minutes each.

Any color yarn or pattern can be used to make squares for the project, Lang said.

“These blankets are supposed to be as diverse as the people who make them and the people who receive them,” she said.

For more information visit: warmupamerica.com or contact Lang at: [email protected].