PORTSMOUTH — If a little kindness goes a long way, then Hathaway School students’ gesture this week should have a prolonged journey.

The entire student body — 423 children — took part in a “Blankets of Hope,” a nationwide project that helps homeless people not only stay warm, but give them some comfort through kind words from strangers,.

Liz Gill, a kindergarten teacher at the school, thought the project would fit in nicely with the elementary school’s acts of kindness.

“It’s not my idea, but I came across it on Instagram,” Gill said.

Two brothers from Brooklyn, N.Y., first started Blankets of Hope in 2016 when they quit their jobs in search of more meaningful work. They started a GoFundMe campaign to raise money to buy blankets for people living on the freezing cold streets of New York City, and hand-delivered 100 of the blankets.

The idea caught steam and now Blankets of Hope has partnered with over 500 schools to donate more than 50,000 blankets and handwritten notes to those in need.

Students collected the blankets and brought them to school, and also spent part of one morning in their classrooms writing notes to the recipients.

“They each have a blanket and are writing a message to a homeless person — you know, inspiring messages to them,” Gill said. “It will be attached with a gold ribbon and the teachers will bring them to homeless shelters. They’ll go to Lucy’s Hearth and the (Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Community) Center, and because we have so many, some will go up to Providence.”

The 423 “Blankets of Hope” were handed out to Heather Strout, executive director of the MLK Center, in the school parking lot Monday morning.

As students formed a line to give their blankets to Strout, she greeted each child individually to tell them how appreciative each recipient will be.

“It’s just so sweet,” she said.