McDonald's of Decorah donates blankets for pediatric patients at Winneshiek Medical Center

McDonalds of Decorah recently presented Winneshiek Medical Center with 30 hand-made blankets for pediatric patients. (Left to right): Mc Donald's managers Diana Johnson, Nicole Schroeder and Cheryl Grinna, along with WMC nursing staff members Bev Rustad, Kendra Gerleman, Michelle Dickson, Diane Berns, Cathy Elliott and Catherine Hildebrandt.

Employees at the Mc Donald's restaurants in Decorah have finished a project of making cozy blankets for pediatric patients at Winneshiek Medical Center.

Ronald McDonald House Charities of Western Wisconsin and Southeastern Minnesota provided the funding for the blankets.  Local Mc Donald's employees chose the fabric and coordinated the volunteers to construct and tie them.  The blanket project became a local effort for McDonalds staff, friends and family members.  "We had a ball making these blankets," said Mc Donald's manager Diane Johnson.

Each blanket has a special tag that says 'Tied with Love' from Ronald McDonald.  Said Mc Donald's manager Cheryl Grinna, "We fell in love with the project and the blanket patterns and with the idea that we could help the little patients here at our local hospital – it really is a good feeling."

Pediatric patients at Winneshiek Medical Center for the next year will receive one of the blankets.  "The blankets will be a comfort to the patients while they're here as well as something that they can take home with them," says WMC Med/Surg Nurse Manager Catherine Hildebrandt.