Morgan Yoney knows what it’s like to be in the hospital. Born with cystic fibrosis, she grew up there.

“It’s really hard to be there, especially on holidays, because you’re not around family,” Yoney said.

Despite the struggle of undergoing two double-lung transplants, a kidney and a liver transplant, Yoney said the support from people in the community helped her immensely. Originally from Waynesburg, Greene County residents rallied around her to help her obtain the care she needed.

Now, she is relying on the community’s support for a different cause.

At a young age, when Yoney was in a children’s hospital, she said the employees were able to decorate the halls and wear festive outfits, but when she was in adult hospitals, she said the workers were not allowed to deviate from normal protocol and holidays looked like any other day. She couldn’t tell the difference between July and Christmas.

She said some adults in the hospital did not even have visitors during their stays, as their families were unable to make it.

“That bothered me – so many people in the hospital without visitors,” said Yoney.

So, she decided to do something about it.

Two years ago, Yoney and her family came up with an idea she titled the “Blanket Brigade.” The idea was to collect new blankets to give to people in the hospital.

The first year of the event, “Morgan’s Army,” as she refers to her support group, collected 75 blankets. Last year, the event brought in more than 2,000 blankets.

Family friends Dan Burda and Steven Perrine helped Yoney and her family last year during the “Blanket Brigade.” Yoney met Burda and Perrine about two years ago, and the two have become a crucial part of “Morgan’s Army.”

Although Yoney was not able to be a part of the drive last year, due to her illness, she said the community still came together to help take care of the event, especially Burda and Perrine.

Yoney said Burda and Perrine are always working to help promote organ donation. They helped Yoney during her last lung transplant, and Yoney said every month, they are looking for new people to help support.

While the event was created to give the blankets to anyone in the hospital, Yoney said the event focused on adults.

Yoney said the small gesture of showing support to someone can mean the world to them.

“Full-grown adults were crying because [the blanket] was the only thing they received [that year for Christmas],” Yoney said.

The “Blanket Brigade” began Oct. 30 and will run through Nov. 30, where new blankets can be dropped off at one of the collection areas. Cornerstone Care, Tri-State Chiropractic in Waynesburg and Studio Raw in Pittsburgh are all collection areas.

“It brings a lot of people happiness, even though it seems so small,” Yoney said.

Yoney said she believes she was able to use her social status to bring the community together to help a cause bigger than herself, something she described as extremely humbling.

“It’s a really good feeling, because it shows they are willing to help people they don’t know,” said Yoney. “They are helping out a bunch of people, not just me.”