19th Annual Make a Blanket Day Brings Comfort to Children in Our Community

As the Chapter Coordinator for Project Linus Dodge, Fond du Lac and Washington Counties I am very thankful for the many blanketeers(volunteers) who came to our 19th Annual Make a Blanket Day on Saturday March 28. This was a great family event. We had fun making 184 blankets for the children in our area. There were many door prizes, raffle items and a great lunch donated by Thrivent Financial.

Project Linus is a nationwide non-profit organization. There are more than 300 chapters throughout the United States with at least one in every state. Our mission is to make new, washable, handmade blankets, afghans and quilts to be given to children in need of a hug, warmth or comfort. The organization began December 24, 1995 when the founder read a magazine article about a little girl. In the article the little girl said that taking her blanket to her chemo appointments really helped her get through treatment. Karen Loucks Rinedollar, our founder, got the idea to make 100 crochet blankets for her local cancer center within the next year after reading this. Karen began telling her friends and soon she had an army of volunteers helping make blankets.

Our Fond du Lac chapter began November 1, 2006. Since then, we have added Dodge and Washington Counties as the needs arose. We average between 1500 and 2000 blankets delivered every year. The majority of those deliveries stay within our area. There have been a few times over the past that we sent blankets to survivors of school shootings and natural disasters. One of my favorite stories about both the power of these blankets and our Project Linus Chapters is regarding the accident that happened in Campbellsport many years ago. At the time of the accident, I had 23 blankets on hand and most of those were infant sized. I sent out an email to all of our chapters and those blanketeers in our area asking for any blankets they could send as I wanted to cover the entire high school with blankets. Within a week more than 500 blankets were received at my home from all over the country and all cities within our county. That was one of the first times I actually got to personally deliver blankets, normally they are given to hospitals, police, fire, social workers etc. to deliver. It was so moving to watch all these teenagers rush to help carry the blankets into school so they could pick the perfect blanket to comfort themselves. Watching the big football players wearing their blankets as capes and the ladies who you could see were truly comforted by them made me realize exactly how much the blankets meant to all involved.

At this time our chapter has a greater need than normal. Covenant United Methodist Church has graciously donated a space for us to store our supplies and host our monthly meetings for the past six years. Unfortunately for us but great for them they are now in need of this space. Thus, we are trying to find a new place to move into. If you know of a place that might be able to let us move in, please contact me, Penny Kollmansberger, at 920-251-3527 or via email at penny@davidcross.name. The space we are using now is probably similar in size to a large conference room. We have the shelving units for storage and tables to cut material on. We just need space. Besides a new PLACE (Project Linus Activity Center Etc,) you can help us by sewing, knitting, crocheting or tying blankets. Can you help with pick-ups from our local drop off spots (in Fond du Lac these are at the Ol Bread Store and Quilting Legacies)? How about making deliveries to places to hand out blankets for us or donating much needed funds? Let’s find a way to work together to comfort children in our area.

Author: Penny Kollmansberger