CRANBERRY TWP — The Kunkel family knows it is tough to have a child confined to a hospital bed during the holidays.

Back in 2009 when Mark Kunkel was 8 years old, he spent Easter in the hospital in Tulsa, Okla., recovering from complications from open-heart surgery.

He spent a total of 18 days in the hospital, which was an ordeal for the whole family, his mother Lisa Kunkel said.

But they were touched by the kindness of a volunteer who gave Mark a blanket.

“Everything is so abnormal when you’re in the hospital. Everything is white, you’re practically naked and you have tubes coming out of you.

“When we put that blanket over him he would smile and it gave the illusion of home,” she said.

Mark, now 17, eventually made a full recovery, but the family did not forget that kind gesture. So they started a tradition of buying some blankets and bringing them to the hospital on Christmas Eve to try and brighten the lives of some of the patients there.

“For these little kids that are in the hospital on Christmas Eve that is the worst,” Kunkel said.

They continued the tradition at Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh when they moved to Cranberry Township about four years ago.

Last year, they decided to try and get blankets for even more kids by raising money through a page on CrowdRise.com, an online fundraising service. They garnered about $600 and hope to triple that figure this year by raising $1,800 to buy 320 blankets, one for every bed in the hospital.

The family, which includes Lisa’s husband, Tom, and other son, Rob, deliver the blankets in person. A couple years ago they were able to not just drop off the blankets, but also give some out to parents going to visit their children.

“We gave one to a father and he said, ‘This will be great. I can take it to my little one, he’s in the ICU.’ Our hearts fell to the floor it was so touching,” she said.

CrowdRise takes a very small fee, but the family will put all the remaining money toward the blankets. Last year, Walmart in Cranberry Township helped their effort by ordering extra blankets.

To donate, visit www.blanketsforchristmas.com.

Amy Rayman, Children’s Hospital associate director of corporate and community giving, said the family’s gifts have been a chance for them to pay it forward.

“When you look at philanthropic efforts like this, it’s purely generous and altruistic — they get these blankets and they bring them in,” she said.

Many people donate to the hospital because they want to give back after they had a positive experience there. Rayman said they do their best to honor each donor’s wishes for where their money or gift will go within the hospital.

For information about volunteering or donating to Children’s Hospital visit www.givetochildrens.org.