-
Marshall McRae, age 10, designs blankets to give to the elderly. courtesy photo
Ten year old Marshall McRae is paying it forward with the gift of giving this holiday season by making blankets for the elderly. He has always had a soft spot in his heart for the elderly and became concerned when he saw a picture of an elderly lady on the news sitting in her room at a nursing home crying. He decided to do something special for them because he always sees people doing things for children so he decided to do the reverse and do for the elderly.
Marshall is a gifted child who has been reading at an adult level since he was very young. He began reading before he could sit up. His parents taught him sign language so he could communicate with them. Marshall is home schooled and is in high school classes, except for math, but has been in various classes such as music, gymnastics, science clubs and other enjoyable kid classes.
Marshall's parents prayed for 15 years for a son because they were unable to have children. He was a gift that came into their lives through adoption as a newborn. He has sensory processing disorder but his mother says that Marshall has learned to control the anxiety issues that come with the disorder. He still has some issues with situations where there is a lot of lights or loud sounds and sometimes with the texture of objects.
Even though Marshall is only 10 years old, he started his own business this last year, printing and embroidering t-shirts and sweatshirts and sewing dog clothing. Marhsall called his business MM Love Designs and his slogan is “Share the Shine”. Mrs. McRae said that Michael’s goal is to earn his own money to pay for college where he plans to work towards becoming a physician for the NASA Space Program.
Marshall began sewing when he was only four years old and has sewn approximately 200 blankets with different Cricut design pockets in the center of each for the elderly. He tried to buy as many colors as possible so no two blankets were the same so each person who receives the gift would not get their blanket mixed up with someone elses. Marshall purchased all the material for the blankets with money he has made off his business, MM Love Designs, and to help, he used coupons and purchased a lot of the materials during the Black Friday sales, where he received huge discounts. Each blanket has its own pocket where Marshall fill bags with goodies such as candy, a deck of cards and small items for the recepient to enjoy, along with a note from Marshall, that says, “Merry Christmas. I justed wanted to “Share the Shine” with you. I hope you know that you are special. Love, Michael McRae.”
Due to the COVID-19 restrictions, Marshall is unable to hand deliver the blankets to each resident but Katy Battenfield is helping arange the deliveries.