Angelica Halaby, a junior at Statesboro High School, is on a mission to bring warmth and a sense of security to those whose worlds are unstable due to trauma, home instability or other hardship.
“My community service project is all about sharing love and helping provide a small piece of reassurance to kids who desperately need it,” Angelica said. “In addition, I hope to create awareness of the foster care situation throughout the community and the challenges this population faces.”
Through a program called Project Linus, Angelica is spearheading a community service project to make brand-new handmade blankets for youth in the area. Project Linus is a national organization with chapters around the country, but there is no chapter in Bulloch County.
“The primary goal of my project is to piggyback off the National Project Linus organization to provide warmth, a sense of security, and comfort to children through gifts of brand-new handmade blankets created by volunteers affectionately called ‘blanketeers,’” she said. “Just like Linus, the character in Charlie Brown who takes his banket everywhere, these handmade blankets are meant to give reassurance and courage to kids in our area.”
The National Project Linus organization has donated over 10 million blankets throughout the country since 1995.
Angelica’s goal is to make 100 blankets for distribution in Bulloch County. Each blanket requires four yards of fleece and about an hour to make.
“That’s over 400 yards of fabric and nearly 400 volunteer hours to reach my goal,” she said. “For now, my hope is to provide a rewarding and fun service opportunity for my fellow students that will help benefit children in our community.”
“I am hoping to provide individuals with something that is truly theirs and to give them a sense of security. Even though many parts of their life might be uncertain, these handmade blankets should help remind them that they are loved and special. In addition, they will have something that is uniquely theirs to take with them from place to place,” she added.
Statewide Leadership Engagement
Angelica is working on this community service project as part of her involvement with the State School Superintendent’s Student Advisory Council. The council, made up of 75 high school students selected from across the state, meets four times over the academic year with State School Superintendent Richard Woods to provide input on issues affecting high school students today including everything from gun violence in schools to discussions about academic standards and curriculum.
“Each year, members of my statewide Student Advisory Council complete service projects to benefit their schools, districts and communities,” State School Superintendent Richard Woods said. “Projects are original to the student - they come up with the concept; lead the work; and then share what they’ve learned with their peers and members of the Georgia Department of Education. Engaging in acts of service is so important, and these projects give students an early opportunity to be engaged members of their communities, our state, and our nation.”
Angelica first heard about Project Linus during the summer of her sophomore year when she was selected to represent her high school at statewide leadership seminar. Her nomination by her school counselor and her selection into the Hugh O’Brian Youth Leadership Foundation Georgia State Seminar in June of 2024 opened her eyes to servant leadership and the possibilities that one person can make a difference.
“Angelica is a great student who works hard in her course work and has a big heart for the people around her,” Jared Simonin, SHS Guidance Counselor said. “She is observant and does an amazing job of realizing the needs of those around her. I believe that Angelica’s leadership opportunities that she has experienced through high school has led her to a place to be able to lead this project.”
“Her main goal in this is to help people, which speaks a lot about her character and integrity,” Simonin added. “She is a natural leader who has worked hard for her academic and sports successes. Angelica is the type of student that any teacher, or coach, would love to work with.”
Blanket Building in the Community
Angelica is using the leadership skills she discovered during that HOBY weekend to network though out her community and talk about her goals for this community service project. From these discussions, she has already received several community donations of fleece from a local book club, and a dozen handmade blankets from her soccer team.
“I have had the pleasure of both teaching and coaching Angelica. In both areas, she is a leader and always gives it her all,” Sarah Parker, SHS Girls’ Varsity Soccer Head Coach and AP American Government teacher said. “This is evident in her helping her community too, as is clear with her community service project. She got her teammates involved and when she asked to dedicate part of our bonding day to help create blankets, they all agreed. It was great seeing her get more people involved and turning it into a fun project to serve the community and her team.”
Angelica has held a few other blanket building days with some of the other student organizations that she is involved in at her school. With each event, she gets closer to her goal of making 100 blankets before the end of the school year. As of this publication, she’s about halfway there.
“When Angelica approached me about this project, I was pleased that HOSA (Health Occupations Students of America) could partner with her to make it happen,” Hope Price, HOSA sponsor and Sports Medicine Teacher at SHS said. “Our students not only had a great time making the blankets, but also learned a great deal about the organizations that will benefit from them.”
“Angelica has been an active member in our HOSA organization since her ninth-grade year. This student-led organization is geared toward students who plan to pursue a career in healthcare. Angelica plays a big role in community service planning, as well as the administrative side of our organization,” Hope added.
Angelica’s involvement in the community extends far beyond Project Linus and the State Superintendent’s Student Advisory Council. Angelica is a recent graduate of the Chamber of Commerce Youth Leadership Bulloch Class of 2025, and she was recently accepted as one of only 50 students statewide into the Colony Bank Leaders Academy that will run through November of 2025. In addition, she is actively involved in Feed the Boro.
“In the classroom, Angelica is the type of student every teacher dreams of having,” Hope added. “She is eager to learn, always prepared, and engaged in class discussions. She is always willing to help out fellow classmates at the drop of a hat.”
Making An Impact at School
At school, Angelica has been involved in three separate varsity sports at SHS since her freshman year – cross country, flag football and soccer. In addition, she played Club Soccer with Tormenta FC for two years. Angelica holds a leadership position as Team Captain for the SHS Girls Varsity Soccer team. She also serves as Vice President for HOSA this year and was Treasurer last year.
Angelica is actively involved in BETA Club and National Honor Society and she is taking dual enrollment classes at Georgia Southern. In addition, she began participating in the SHS Drama productions while in elementary and has performed in over 20 productions at SHS and another five at the Averitt Center for the Arts. Angelica is an honor student at SHS and anticipates graduating in the top of her class.
She aspires to become a sports medicine doctor one day.
“Working on this project has taught me to embrace my passions and recognize the power of one. I may not be able to solve all the problems in the world, but I can make a difference in my community,” she said. “I believe when we work together to help those in need, we all benefit.”
“I’m very proud of Angelica and other council members who are currently completing their service projects and encourage anyone who can support her as she seeks to support foster children in her community,” added Woods.
Anyone interested in supporting Angelica’s community service initiative, can drop off fleece in two-yard increments at the front office at Statesboro High School on Coach Lee Hill Boulevard.