'5000 Blankets' Based on True Story About Family's Quest to Help the Homeless - Movies

Life is full of unpredictable situations and moments, some good and others not so good. However, as one character in the new faith-based film 5000 Blankets” says, “We didn’t ask for any of this, but we get to choose how we react to it.”

5000 Blankets, based on a true story, is about how Cyndi and her young son Phillip took an unfortunate and devasting incident in their own lives and were able to use it for the good of others and created the charitable organization, Phillip’s Wish. 

The trailer for the film shows Cyndi, played by Anna Camp, (Pitch Perfect, The Help), putting the last touches on a surprise party for her husband, Bobby, as father and son pull into the driveway, returning from a fishing outing. 

Later, after the big surprise, which ends up not being much of a surprise, Bobby appears to be experiencing the beginning of a mental health episode. Bobby also undergoes a similar incident at work, leaving him unable to speak, according to Crosswalk.com. 

Things soon go from bad to worse as Bobby misses an outing with his son, Phillip. Cyndi tells Phillip that she’s “sure there was an emergency at work or something.” But instead of meeting with a doctor the next day, the trailer shows Bobby speeding away in his truck, leaving his wife and son behind.

Cyndi looking for help in the search for Bobby is told that since her “husband left of his own volition, he can’t be listed as a missing person yet” Cyndi responds simply that “my husband is not well.”

This moves Cyndi to begin searching for her husband as the trailer shows her searching among homeless camps. Unsuccessful in her attempts to locate Bobby and get him the help he needs, the trailer shows Cyndi and Phillip struggling to come to terms with their situation as their house is foreclosed upon and they are forced to move. 

While sitting at a kitchen table, Cyndi is told, “There is strength to be found in others, in their faith. It can help you find purpose.”

As she continues the search for her missing husband, Cyndi is seen treating a homeless woman to a meal and later gives her a blanket that will change her and her son’s life. 

This act of kindness propels Phillip and Cyndi on a mission. That mission, as the trailer shows Cyndi standing in church and addressing the congregation, is to provide the “over 5,000 homeless souls” in their city with a “comforting gesture: a blanket.” And so, as a result of a child’s concern for his father and those living on the streets, Phillips Wish was born.

As the trailer shows, Cyndi and Phillip are bound and determined – even on a particularly frigid Christmas Eve night – to fulfill their mission of providing those in need with a blanket. 

The trailer to the faith-based film concludes with a powerful quote from Phillip as he states that “we have to believe we can make a change, no matter how small” because “we stop believing in that, we stop living. “ 

The film is rated PG-13 for thematic material involving mental illness, according to IMDB.

2 Corinthians 1:3 “Blessed be God and Father of our Lord Jesus Chris, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort.”