High school volunteers in Webster spend one evening a month making fleece blankets and handmade gifts for children living in domestic violence shelters in Webster, Baytown and Pasadena.

Bay Area Service Teens, the youth arm of Bay Area Service League, highlighted two of its programs for Domestic Violence Awareness Month in October. Project Snuggle puts a soft fleece blanket into the hands of every child who arrives at a partner shelter. Crafted with Care delivers themed mementos each month, timed to holidays and seasons, for children ages 4 to 10.

Both programs serve kids at Bay Area Turning Point in Webster and The Bridge Over Troubled Waters, which operates offices in Baytown and Pasadena. Many children enter those shelters with only the clothes they are wearing, having left home suddenly, according to the league's Project Snuggle page.

The teens gather after a membership meeting each month to assemble the blankets as a group, keeping a steady supply on hand so shelters never run short for new arrivals.

Crafted with Care is newer. Members voted to launch it in July 2023. In the program's first full year, adult liaison Melanie Lovuola and teen liaisons Michelle Cai, Ryan Marie DeGuzman and Natalie Rose Gonzales helped produce 203 themed mementos, according to a June 2024 league update. The gifts mark holidays and milestones for young shelter residents who may have arrived after traumatic situations at home.

Bay Area Service League, headquartered at 100 East NASA Parkway, Suite 80, in Webster, also assembles Caring Kits containing essential supplies to help domestic violence survivors leave safely after an attack and medical exam. Those kits reach victims through partnerships with local nonprofits, hospitals and law enforcement agencies, the league said in an Oct. 2 awareness post.

The same post cited national figures showing that 1 in 4 women and 1 in 9 men in the United States experience severe physical violence from an intimate partner during their lifetime. The league attributed those numbers to the data aggregator Zipdo.

Project Snuggle and Crafted with Care are two of seven philanthropic programs the teen group runs. Membership is open to high school students who want to earn service hours and build leadership skills. Blanket-making sessions happen monthly after membership meetings, and information is available at bayareaserviceleague.org.

Bay Area Turning Point operates a 24/7 crisis hotline at 281-286-2525. The Bridge Over Troubled Waters can be reached around the clock at 713-473-2801.