New London — Debbie Furgueson, a STEM Magnet Middle School teacher, marveled with pride Saturday at a cafeteria table piled high with 118 fleece scarves of every color that were cut, measured and tied over the last few months by her students in an after-school group called "Love Grows."

"Everyone can make a difference, even if it's spending an hour tying knots and cutting fleece. It doesn't cost you a thing but your time," Furgueson said, showing off photos of her students prepping for Saturday's fourth annual New London Scarf Bomb. "Look how big a deal this is."

Big deal, indeed: Organizers estimated hundreds if not 1,000-plus scarves passed through the Bennie Dover Jackson Middle School cafeteria command center on Saturday morning, arriving in bins, bags and armfuls in what Bennie Dover Principal Alison Burdick described as a hectic "blitz."

Dozens of students, teachers and volunteers then hung and strung the colorful scarves and other wintry accessories on streetlights, trees, signs, fences and benches throughout New London's parks and public spaces, offering unexpected warmth to passers-by in need.

New London attorney Sue Connolly, who founded the event with a few organizers before Bennie Dover and other schools got involved, said the first students a few years ago "struggled with just hanging scarves on trees for someone they didn't even know."

But then they got it: "The best kind of giving (is) to just put it out there for the good of it," Connolly said.

"We're looking for kids to step up as leaders in every aspect," Burdick said. "Our students are 12 and 13, they've been drawing out maps, tagging the scarves, helping people in the community who benefit from this. The reaction has been incredible. People have come out of the woodwork."

Carrie Baxter, assistant pastor of LIFEhouse Church in Groton, strode into Bennie Dover's cafeteria with a smile and a bin of 43 scarves yet to be tagged. Like many participants, Baxter found the event on Facebook.

"We're always looking for opportunities for our kids' ministry to participate in giving back to the community," Baxter said.

Connolly noted her friend, Waterford attorney Sue Carr, helped organize this year's event by using her office as a drop off location for more than 100 scarves. St. Joseph's students and other churches assisted as well, Connolly added.

Some of the scarves were handmade, while some arrived at the cafeteria with store tags, Carr noted, but each one left with a new tag that read: "This is not lost. If you find yourself stuck in the cold, please take this and keep yourself warm."

b.kail@theday.com