MARYSVILLE — Ada Hamilton wanted to mix things up this holiday.

So the member of Marysville’s Taking Off Pounds Sensibly club suggested to her fellow club members that the group hold a blanket drive.

“We hoped to do five blankets and we ended up doing 20 blankets and collecting $100 for the (Everett Gospel Mission),” Hamilton said. “The group had never done anything like this before.”

The items and money were donated to the mission’s women’s shelter on Dec. 11.

“It was one of the coldest days of the year,” she said. “We figured they were really happy to be able to get them.”

Eighteen residents take part in the group, which meets each Wednesday morning at 9 a.m., at St. Philip’s Episcopal Church on 84th Street NE in Marysville.

Group members solicited donations from friends, neighbors and other local residents.

The donated funds will go toward purchasing toiletries for women at the shelter.

Hamilton said TOPS members are hoping to do some kind of community donation at least once every six months.

“It’s good to help the community,” Hamilton said. “It’s something to let people know that we have a TOPS group and we are a supportive group.”

For more information about the group, call 360-691-7022.