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MONUMENT, COLO. -- It may have been cold and snowy outside Sunday, but downtown a group of local teens brought warmth to those who are less fortunate one blanket at a time.

"I thought the blankets would be a good way to show love and care around Christmas time, because these kids have nothing and they are homeless," Ally Miller said.

Miller is a senior at Lewis-Palmer High School in Monument. She said she was shocked when she heard the average age of a homeless person is nine.

"That just broke my heart when I heard that, so I wanted to do something to help," Miller said.

So Ally though up "Operation Warm Hearts," a small nonprofit that is making cozy blankets for homeless kids and teens.

"These are hand-made too, so I thought that showed a lot more care and effort, and blankets kind of show warmth," she said.

With the help of her good friend, Jenn Gleason, Miller was able to raise nearly $500 in three days thanks to donations from local businesses and families. Enough money to make more than 50 blankets.

"It was really cool to see people come through in such short notice to help us out with this," she said.

Gleason and Miller were able to rally a group of Lewis-Palmer students to help make the colorful and soft blankets. All gave up their Sunday to help make someone's holiday a little bit brighter.

"I have definitely learned that if you have an idea like this, it can be done, you just have to have the motivation for it," Miller said.

All of the blankets will be donated to the Marian House who will in turn hand them out to homeless children for Christmas presents.

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