Inspired by a remarkable true story, 5000 BLANKETS is a new film spreading hope to families across Canada and the United States.
Twenty years ago, Cyndi and her son, Phillip Pruitt, age six, were introduced to a world that broke their hearts when Phillip’s dad’s life was changed by mental illness. A search for him on the streets of Ft. Worth, Texas, opened their eyes to the hardship faced by the homeless population in their city.
“One night, as I was tucking Phillip into bed, he asked me, ‘Mommy, are you cold?’ And I said, ‘No, I’m fine.’ He goes, ‘Do you think daddy’s cold?’” said Cyndi. “I was just taken aback. I didn’t know how to even answer that… He just kept saying, ‘We need to get these blankets so we can warm them all up.’”
The mother-son duo took action, and in 2004 they started Phillip’s Wish, an organization determined to keep homeless people warm. They would collect blankets. Hundreds of them. And give them to every homeless person they found.
In its first year, Phillip’s Wish collected 200 blankets. By the fourth year, over 20,000 blankets were collected, along with hundreds of hats, scarves, gloves, sleeping bags, toiletries, and toys.
Today, Cyndi is an advocate for the homeless and the primary contact for Phillip’s Wish, which distributed approximately 60,000 blankets
throughout North Texas by Christmas 2022.
This inspirational story has now been turned into a movie and is currently streaming on Pureflix.
The new film stars Anna Camp (Jerry & Marge Go Large, PITCH PERFECT), Carson Minniear (RALLY CAPS), Rob Mayes (THOR: RAGNAROK), Rod Hallett (The Last Kingdom, Red Rose, MacGyver), and Kim Myers (A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET 2). It was directed by Amin Matalqa and produced by Doug Shaffer.
“I’m so honoured to be part of such a moving story,” said actress Anna Camp, who plays Cyndi Bunch in the film. “This is a story about a woman of faith who believes in God, but who’s struggling with why this painful thing happened to her. She has doubts and fears but ultimately, it’s a movie about overcoming them in the face of personal struggle."
Cyndi says watching her family's story be filmed was overwhelming.
"When I was on set, I had to walk out one time because it was so real," said Cyndi. "You could tell that God had his hands all over this project because there was not a bump in the road, not one."
Today on Connections, Cyndi talks about the film and what it's like to see her family's story on the big screen.