One blanket at a time: A desire to help child refugees grows to global effort

By Mary Richards  3 Jan 2022, 11:00 AM MST

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Julie Farr with her two daughters, Lindsay Farr Harper and Alexis Farr Silva, collecting blankets in the summer of 2021 for their non-profit organization, Hearts Tied Together.  

 Credit: Julie Farr

https://www.thechurchnews.com/2022/1/3/23218549/hearts-tied-together-blankets-for-refugees-justserve-global-effort

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Julie Farr once asked herself, “What can one person do?” The result is more than 5,000 blankets sent to people around the world. 

Farr and her family began Hearts Tied Together in 2016 with the hope to give a fleece tied blanket and warm welcome note to refugee children who were settling in Utah. Now it has become a non-profit charitable organization that collects blankets to supply to people and groups of all ages in need.

The blankets come with a personally written card or note to “tie” the donor with the recipient and the recipient to the donor.

“We have pictures of donor cards that have made us smile and some that have brought tears.  We have pictures of blankets that have made us ‘ooh’ and ‘aah.’ We recognize that without the help of thousands of donors, this organization would not be possible,” said Farr.

Sister Reyna I. Aburto, second counselor in the Relief Society general presidency, recently featured Farr’s service project on her social media accounts
Sister Aburto shared a picture of one of the donor cards on Facebook and Instagram and wrote, “Although they will never meet in person, I love that these notes help those who serve and those who receive feel closer to each other. These sisters are just one example of how we can lift and serve others — either across the world or in our own communities.”

Sister Aburto then asked for people to share any service projects they have participated in recently. Farr spoke to the Church News about how her service project grew.

“The organization was started with the belief that we are all tied together as children of God, and that one person can make a difference in the life of another,” said Farr, who is a member of the Pleasant View 3rd Ward in the Pleasant View Utah Stake.

The seeds of service

Farr served in the Thailand Bangkok Mission in the early 1980s and was assigned to teach among Southeast Asian refugees in the Phanat Nikhom Camp, as part of the Welfare Services Unit for Refugees in Thailand. The experience planted the seeds of service and love for refugees. And it led her to ask the question “What can one person do?” during the refugee crisis of 2015-2016.

Farr heard two talks in April 2016 general conference, the first from Sister Linda K. Burton, “I Was a Stranger,” and the second from Elder Patrick Kearon, “Refuge from the Storm.” Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf, then second counselor in the First Presidency, then made tearful remarks about his own experience as a refugee, and Farr knew she needed to act upon the impressions she received.

That same evening the idea for the organization came to her, along with its name of “Hearts Tied Together.”  Farr and her family set up the website and other tools they needed to spread the word about the project. Then they started collecting blankets to distribute them where they are needed. 

Students, Church groups, youth conferences, Boy Scouts, families, community and civic groups and many others have tied fleece blankets to donate to Hearts Tied Together over the last five years. The organization also accepts any new blanket of any kind. 

“Each blanket is donated with love, and I can feel that as I receive the blankets,” Farr said.

Divine intervention

In 2016, Hearts Tied Together responded to a request for help for Armenians from the Armenian Apostolic Church of Salt Lake City. That began their partnership, and in the last five years, 3,197 blankets have been sent to Armenia. 

This past summer, Farr posted a project on JustServe.org to collect more blankets for Armenians. She hoped for 500 — and got 1,379 blankets in return, more than double the amount. Those blankets were given to refugees, newborns, an orphanage, pediatric hospital wing and to a shelter for abused women and children in Armenia. 

Collecting, cataloging and then shipping that many blankets at once was quite the task for Farr and her family. The organization is mainly Julie Farr, her husband, Dennis Farr, and their daughters, Lindsay Farr Harper and Alexis Farr Silva. They say they know divine intervention helped make the shipments possible.

“We couldn’t have done this major of a project in such a short time without help from friends and family throughout the state of Utah, who acted as collection points in St. George, Cedar City, Springville, Provo, Salt Lake City, Bountiful and Ogden. We had a miracle story in getting blankets from St. George to Salt Lake City to make the shipment with just hours to spare. An answer to prayers,” Farr said.

One blanket at a time

In the United States, the Hearts Tied Together blankets have been donated to Catholic Community Services, International Rescue Committee, Utah Refugee Connection, Your Community Connection, Family Promise, Youth Futures, Lantern House, police departments, NPHY (for homeless youth in Las Vegas), Curt’s Cuddles and Christmas Box House. 

From the beginning, Farr wanted all the blankets to be cataloged. She has kept track of the donor or group name, the size of blanket and any special messages. And she said some of the notes have been the best part of it.

Donors are encouraged to download the donation cards from the Hearts Tied Together website, then write a personal message on it to attach to their blanket. Farr said many of those notes have been tender and profound. If blankets are donated without a tag, the Farrs write their own note. Younger children will sometimes draw a picture for the recipient.

“I am often reminded of my initial thought, ‘What can one person do?’” said Farr. “My answer now goes to each individual who has contributed to this project with, ‘Each person can make a difference, and has made a difference — one blanket at a time. Thank you.’”

When people think of refugees, images of refugee camps in distant European, African, or Middle Eastern countries usually come to mind. However, there are thousands of refugees living among us attempting to adjust to a foreign land, language, people, and culture. For most refugees, immigrating to the United States and being placed in safe housing isn’t the end of their concerns, but a wave of entirely new concerns. Imagine the heartache of fleeing from your beloved, yet war-stricken, childhood home; leaving people, places, languages, and customs you had grown up with your entire life only to resettle among strangers, speaking a strange language, in a strange place. This is a frightening and confusing experiences for all refugees, but particularly the children who are placed here.

Adjusting to American culture will take time, but helping refugees who settle here feel welcome is a great first step. For this reason, we are excited to announce our recent partnership with Utah’s International Rescue Committee and Catholic Community Services, the two largest refugee placement organizations in the state. Together we are committed to provide each child being relocated here a fleece blanket of their choice accompanied with a personalized note of encouragement and welcome upon their arrival. As they begin their new journey in Utah, their bright-colored blankets will be a comfort they can rely on amidst a future filled with change and uncertainty.

Our first international shipment may have left for Armenia, but our work is not done. We will need 1500 blankets by the end of the year. Please participate and share this great opportunity with family, friends, and acquaintances in Utah. If you would like to participate but live out-of-state, we’d love to help you find your local IRC or CCS chapter to donate to.

Feel free to contact us with any questions or to find a donation pick-up/drop-off location near you.

 Hearts Tied Together representative (Julie) with representatives from International Rescue Committee (Cate and Jesse)

 Hearts Tied Together representative (Julie) with Catholic Community Services representatives (Janet and Brad)

 

 

When we launched Hearts Tied Together two short weeks ago, we had no idea the overwhelming response we’d soon witness from family members, friends, acquaintances and total strangers within such a short window of time. Our first international shipment of fleece blankets was leaving Utah for Armenian refugee camps in 16 days. With such a close deadline, we set a “realistic” goal to send at least 30 blankets to the many Syrian refugees encamped there, realizing our contribution would be minimal, but appreciated nonetheless. A few days later, we had 30 blankets piled in our living rooms so we increased our goal to 40 instead…

277 Blankets, 31 Hats, and 1 Burp Rag Later.

Hearts Tied Together representative (Julie) with our Armenian refugee representative (Ohannes)

Thank you for providing 237 more refugees with a warmer, hopefully more peaceful, night ahead. We are appreciative, amazed, and humbled by the contributions and generosity of so many. On behalf of Hearts Tied Together and the many refugees receiving these blankets in the next few weeks… THANK YOU.

We have an amazing opportunity to partner with Ohannes Megerdichian, a Syrian-born Armenian, to send a shipment of blankets to Syrian refugees located in Armenia. The following is an excerpt from his recent request for supplies from community members:

“When I heard Elder Patrick Kearon say “their story is our story; not that many years ago” I thought to myself… “their story is my personal story, not that many years ago.” Except, I received lots of help while attending Ricks College and BYU.

I am Armenian, born in Syria. I ended up in Sandy (Utah) traveling through Cyprus, Lebanon, Rexburg (Idaho) and Provo (Utah).

Even though I was lucky enough to get out of Syria in time to receive excellent education and career in the US, most of my fellow Armenians weren’t as fortunate. They stayed in Syria minding their own business until the civil war started almost 5 years ago. And then, ISIS took over most of the country and after destroying most of the Armenian churches and schools, they started killing Christians (99.9% of Armenians are Christians). To escape the massacre, about 20,000 Armenians ends up in the Republic of Armenia as refugees. We don’t hear much about them because most of the world is concentrating on the refugees in Turkey or Greece. While Turkey and Greece receive billions in aid, Armenia receives hardly any.

During my career, I helped hundreds of dental offices with dental products when they ventured into foreign countries to do humanitarian work and Boy Scouts with their Eagle projects… to mention a few. Now, I am asking you to help me collect supplies to send to the Armenian refugees, who traveled from Syria to Armenia fleeing atrocities. The refugees have been a huge burden to the Armenia’s economy… and that’s why I am getting involved.

We desperately need… blankets… as many as we can get. Winters in Armenia are even colder than winters in Utah.”

THAT’S WHERE WE BECOME INVOLVED!!!

Ohannes will be driving the blankets we collect and other various supplies from community members to California where they will be shipped directly to Armenia.

The deadline for this first international shipment will be APRIL 27, 2016. We need as many blankets as possible within the next two weeks!!! Please share this information with friends and family and help us send AT LEAST 40 blankets to these Armenian Refugees.  We know it’s short notice, but 40 is a very reasonable number to achieve.

We will post future donation opportunities and deadlines as they come up!