By Gregory Childress

gchildress@heraldsun.com; 419-6645

Chapel Hill — So far, the region has had a remarkably mild fall, thanks to a little help from El Niño.

But now that we’ve had the season’s first frost, it’s time to break out the blankets, if you have them.

For those who don’t, Blanket Orange County has begun its annual blanket drive. The 6-year-old event to raise blankets for the Interfaith Council and its homeless residents will end Dec. 21, which is the first day of winter.

This year, the organizers are hoping to collect 300 blankets for residents of the Community House and HomeStart. In addition, blankets will be distributed to people forced to sleep outdoors on cold winter nights when the shelters are full.

The Community House is the IFC’s men’s residential facility at 100 W. Rosemary St. It has 30 beds and 20 floor spaces for men needing emergency housing.

HomeStart is a transitional housing program for homeless women with and without children. It provides emergency short-and long-term services to up to 50 women and their children at a time.

“We just want to spread the warmth,” said Jan Bolick, director of Blanket Orange County.

The blanket project sprang from the Chapel Hill-Carrboro Chamber of Commerce’s member-service group, Women’s Roundtable, which decided to collect blankets as a holiday project.

“We wanted to do something to contribute to the community during the holiday season,” Bolick said.

Over the years, hundreds of blankets have been collected to provide warmth for the town’s most vulnerable residents.

“Blanket Orange County has become an annual event that is greatly welcomed and appreciated by the Inter-Faith Council and our homeless residents who want to stay warm during the winter months,” said Chris Moran, executive director of the IFC.

Moran said Blanket Orange County has made a real commitment to helping to improve conditions for the town’s homeless population.

“I think this is a real unselfish effort on their part,” Moran said. “They want to do everything they can to be helpful. I think focusing on basic needs is the right idea.”

Want to donate a blanket?

You can do so by donating new or gently used blankets you no longer need, or by making a cash donation of $7 per blanket.

Dropoff locations for blankets are:

- Chapel Hill-Carrboro Chamber of Commerce -- 106 South Estes Drive in Chapel Hill.

- Chapel Hill-Carrboro YMCA -- 980 Martin Luther King Junior Blvd.

- Meadowmont Club -- 301 Old Barn Road, Chapel Hill.

For cash donations, make checks payable to Blanket Orange County and mail to: Blanket Orange County, c/o Business Class Inc., P.O. Box 2037 Chapel Hill, NC 27515.

If you donate blankets, the preference is for blankets for single/twin beds. But if you have larger blankets, feel free to donate them and Blanket Orange County will find a good use for them.