Nancy Prater of Ada, Oklahoma helps out out bags of blankets, hats and scarves Tuesday, Oct. 14, 2014, during HOTEL INC's homeless ministry at Riverwalk Riverwalk at Mitch McConnell Park. (Miranda Pederson/Daily News)

Twin sisters Morgan and Maddie Manning were emotional Tuesday as they watched people in need gratefully accept the blankets, scarves and hats they spent months making. 

“I probably will never forget this,” Morgan said. “It makes me want to do a lot more.”

The 13-year-old sisters from Ada, Okla., distributed the handmade items Tuesday during HOTEL INC’s homeless ministry at Riverwalk at Mitch McConnell Park.  

“It’s very life changing,” Maddie said. “I’ve realized how harsh it can be for other people.” 

The sisters got the idea to help the needy while traveling with their family last year to the Texas state fair, where they noticed homeless people camping along the road.

“As we were driving down the road, we kept seeing people set up under the bridges,” Maddie said.

After that experience, the sisters decided to make blankets, hats and scarves for the homeless. Their mother, Deidra Manning, an active blogger, mentioned that she was friends with a blogger from Bowling Green, Kris Bridgman, who volunteers with HOTEL INC’s homeless ministry and runs a blanket ministry for the homeless. 

Inspired by Bridgman’s outreach, Maddie and Morgan started the Bundle Up Club to provide handmade items to those in need. For their first project, they spent five months making blankets, hats and scarves for Bowling Green’s homeless population. They came to town during their fall break this week to deliver the items.

“People who need things, I want to think more about them and I want to help them more than I do,” Maddie said.

Bridgman was delighted when she found out about the sisters’ project.

“I was excited and thrilled and proud of them,” she said. “It’s not often you see 13-year-old girls who give up their summer and fall break (to help others.) It warms my heart, and it’s been exciting to see because they’re stepping out and making a difference in people’s lives here in Bowling Green.”

Since starting the project in May, Morgan and Maddie made 104 gift bags containing a blanket, scarf and hat. In all, they estimate the items include $3,500 worth of materials, more than $1,000 of which was donated through the crowd funding site GoFundMe.

Because of the size of the family’s car, they could only bring 70 gift bundles with them, but they plan to give the rest to a homeless shelter in Oklahoma City when they return home.

The sisters already are planning the next Bundle Up Club project, called Project Baby Bundle. They plan to make baby blankets and hats for the House of Hope in Ada, which provides support to mothers with unplanned pregnancies as well as struggling moms and families with young children. 

— Visit the Bundle Up Club’s blog at www.thebundleupclub.blogspot.com. Donations for the club’s upcoming Project Baby Bundle can be made at www.gofundme.com/thebundleupclub.

— Follow reporter Laurel Wilson on Twitter at twitter.com/FaithinBG or visit bgdailynews.com.