WENATCHEE — One thing Dale Johnson hated when he was in and out of hospitals and a hospice center the last few years of his life: his feet were always cold.

Johnson had suffered a stroke, undergone brain surgery and died in May 2006 of lung cancer at 78 years of age. The longtime Wenatchee resident also suffered from poor circulation.

“We would wheel him around in his wheelchair and he would always complain that his feet were cold,” said his daughter, Leilani Johnson, 52. Leilani and her mother, Carmen — Dale’s wife of 54 years — provided him with warm slipper socks and a lap blanket.

The two women believe Dale was not alone in his discomfort. Many people suffer from circulation problems as they get older and are more sedentary. Their blood doesn’t flow to the extremities like it once did. The result is often cold feet, legs and hands.

Leilani and Carmen started buying slipper socks and lap blankets for seniors living in local nursing homes last year. They delivered about 200 colorful pairs of socks and 50 blankets to Colonial Vista, Highline Care Center and Cancer Care of NCW last summer. In late January, they delivered hundreds more socks and dozens of blankets to Highline and Cashmere Convalescent Center.

They’ve also started a nonprofit group called Warm Souls to accept donations and keep the distribution going.

“We had one lady who said, ‘Oh please, don’t let them take this away from me. It’s so soft,’ ” Carmen said about a Colonial Vista resident who received one of the fleece blankets.

The two women aren’t present when most of the items are distributed, but they’ve seen more than one break down and cry when they received the gifts.

Usually, the socks and blankets are left with the centers’ activities director with instructions to give them to those who need them most, said Carmen, who worked at Colonial Vista before her retirement.

“There’s so many people in there who rarely have a visitor and never get a gift,” she said.

Leilani said the project started last year when she decided it would be healing to do something good for others as a memory to her father.

She found a vendor on eBay who sells the colorful, rubber-treaded slipper socks at wholesale prices, about $30 for a dozen. The micro-fleece lap blankets usually cost between $6 and $10 each.

The two women said they keep their eyes open for sales and stock up when they find a good deal.

The women attach a “Warm Souls” tag to each pair of socks and blanket that includes a copy of “Footprints,” a poem about walking through time with the Lord.

Word has gotten out about the project since the first distribution last summer, Leilani said, and a few donations have started to come in.

“I think it’s making a difference for them,” she said about the seniors who receive the gifts.

“It’s a small thing, but I think it helps. I know it’s helped us through the grieving process.”

Rick Steigmeyer: 664-7151

steigmeyer@wenatcheeworld.com