CAMBY, Ind. (WISH) — A central Indiana firefighter has been hard at work using her own money and resources for an effort the Madison Township Fire Department is calling “Project Snuggles.”

Two-year department veteran Sabrina Hornek is behind the effort. She sews together blankets at the station to load up and bring on calls. They then go to kids to stay warm on what can be can easily become a stressful and scary day.

Since the spring, she’s been able to turn her love of crafts into hundreds of warm blankets.

“I got a bunch of different fun fabrics,” Hornek said. “I got a little excited. Next thing I knew, I turned around, I looked, and I made 412 blankets.”

The idea came from a conversation with her colleagues at the fire station in between calls. It prompted her to run to her local JoAnn Fabrics, which was running a going-out-of-business sale.

It takes about 15 to 20 minutes to make one blanket with her sewing machine. It then gets saran wrapped and tossed into the back of an ambulance or firetruck.

“I’m the only one that’s made the blankets,” Hornek said. “I did commandeer the rest of the guys on my shift to help when we were wrapping them.”

Five nearby fire departments have joined Project Snuggles, helping hand out the stockpile to kids in need. Horneck says she hopes to add stuffed animals to the effort soon.

“Kids love comfort items,” Hornek said. “When they’re already going through a lot in the day, I think that would really help just make their make that experience a little bit better for them.”

Each of the wrapped blankets includes a card with a message from the Madison Township crew and a QR code to the project’s website.

Hornek took on the effort seemingly for the same reasons she answered the call to become a first responder.

“I’ve always loved to push myself to be better, and I love to make a difference in helping people and becoming a firefighter, was just something that took a lot of my interests and put it all together.”

The blankets have been going out on runs since August. In that time, they’ve handed out about 30 blankets.

Project Snuggles has already burned through one sewing machine and most of the original fabric. Hornek has been saving up for a new machine and is borrowing her brother’s in the meantime.

Despite the minor setback, she has no plans to stop anytime soon.

“I still have plenty of blankets to give out if other departments want to join in our project, as well,” Hornek said. “I’m really just doing it for the kids. I’m more than happy to go and do everything by myself.”

Madison Township FD hopes to eventually create a nonprofit for the effort.

It does accept fabric or cash donations for Project Snuggles. For more information on how to help out, visit the project’s website.

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