By all accounts, Anne Marie Varney gave the best hugs ever.
Family and friends all remember Annie as being a warm, loving presence in their lives; one who never hesitated to wrap her loved ones in a tight hug whenever they needed one. Sadly, underneath her happy exterior, Annie suffered from debilitating depression that lead her to die by suicide in 2015.
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Annie left behind three daughters and countless other family members who were crushed by her sudden death. Daughters Angela, Christina, and Mia were devastated. They knew they had to find a way to forge a new path in life, but getting through these dark days would take a lot of time, patience, and love.
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The Abington, Massachusetts family decided shortly after Annie’s death that they wanted to help others who were depressed and suicidal. Thinking of Annie’s warm hugs, they came up with an unorthodox idea to help others in need of love and attention.
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“We wanted to do something to get us out of that horrific darkness, and we said ‘blankets. Let’s just start making blankets,'” said Annie’s aunt, Barbara Buckley.
The family started a 503c charitable organization called Annie’s Kindness Blankets. They say it’s a “pay it forward” kindness campaign, and their goal is to stop the stigma around depression and suicide in our society. Each blanket is handmade by volunteers, and the goal is to wrap lonely people in the kind of warm hug that Annie was remembered by.
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“Her hugs were awesome, so I feel like, that’s why we did blankets. Because when you wrap one around you it feels like you’re getting a hug. It feels like a warm hug,” said Annie’s sixteen-year-old daughter, Christina.
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Each blanket is given to someone who may be feeling alone in the world in order to let them know that someone is always listening and their lives are worth living.
The group started with a modest goal of giving out thirty-five blankets to local hospitals, the homeless, and anyone else who needed a hug. Instead, the movement grew and grew, and now they’ve given out over 3,000 kindness blankets worldwide.
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“If one blanket changed somebody’s moment and they decided not to leave this world, we just changed generations for that person,” Barbara explained. “So, we’ll keep doing it for Anne, and for anybody that needs it.”
Nine-year-old Nina says the project helps her feel closer to her mother, and she knows Annie would approve of their efforts if she were still alive. “I think my mom is here for me,” Mia said.
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Annie’s Kindness Blankets are entirely funded by donations, and their movement continues to gain momentum as more people pitch in to send out warm hugs to anyone who might need one. In this way, the Varney sisters are truly paying their kindness forward, and making a mark on the world that will leave an enduring legacy for their beloved mother.
Learn more about the kindness blankets in the video below, and please share to spread this “kindness breeds kindness” message as far as possible.
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