Hospital beds will be a little warmer after a donation of fleece blankets.

Eight-year-old Skylar Schreiner wanted the St. Alexius Medical Center pediatric unit to be more comfortable for children. She started with a donation of toys last year and now she wants to give out blankets. She became interested in providing toys and blankets after spending time in the hospital.

"We tried to instill empathy in our kids," said Hope Schreiner, Skylar's mother.

Skylar is like any other 8-year-old. Sometimes she doesn't listen to her parents or does something she shouldn't, her mother said. But, unlike most other children, she's also spent time in hospitals because of asthma.

Through bake sales, Skylar raised money to buy new toys for the pediatric unit. Now, she's giving blankets, with fabric purchased from money donated from the St. Alexius Foundation.

"It's important to give back," Schreiner said. "We're fortunate and she understands we have more than other kids."

They have enough fabric for 20 blankets, which seemed like a lot for Skylar and her mom to make on their own. So, they enlisted the help of RSVP, a senior citizen volunteer network.

The organization lined up volunteers to work on the blankets at 1 p.m. today. The blankets will be completed the day before the national Make a Difference Day on Saturday, a nationwide volunteer event sponsored each year by USA Weekend magazine.

Volunteers will tie the fringe on the fleece blankets at the RSVP center in Bismarck. It will be their project for Make a Difference Day

"It's really inspiring," said Kelsey Bless, RSVP project director.

"It's one of these wonderful examples of a younger volunteer working with an older volunteer … doing something special for Make a Difference Day," said Tom Regan of the Missouri Slope Area United Way. RSVP is one of the organizations that receives money from United Way.

The Schreiners also had a garage sale last weekend and raised $850. The south Wal-Mart store offered $1,000 to help buy some more toys for the pediatric unit. Combined with another bake sake in November, the Schreiners hope to have $2,000 to spend on toys. Skylar wants to buy hand-held games, like a Nintendo DS, so that other children who stay in the pediatric unit have something to do.

For more information on United Way activities, call 255-3601.

(Reach reporter Sara Kincaid at 250-8251 or sara.kincaid@bismarcktribune.com.)