http://www.waltermagazine.com/spotlight-blanket-buddies/
RALEIGH NOW
SPOTLIGHTOCTOBER 31, 2016 5:00 AM
Takaaki Iwabu
by Mimi
Montgomery
Loveable Linus van Pelt of The Peanuts is never
without his security blanket – multi-purposed and well-worn, it’s a reminder of
comfort, home, and warmth. Project Linus aims to provide those same feelings
with its own blankets, which are handmade by volunteers and distributed to
seriously ill, traumatized, or in-need children.
The Missouri-based nonprofit has chapters in all 50 states; the
Wake County chapter has donated over 36,000 blankets since its inception in
1996 alone. “The child who receives the blanket will know that someone in their
community cares about them, cares enough to make them that blanket and give it
to them, just to help them through a difficult time,” says Susie Holmes,
chapter coordinator and founder.
Volunteer-made blankets go to children at WakeMed Hospitals, Rex
Hospital, Duke Hospital, InterAct, the Make a Wish Foundation, and the Raleigh
Rescue Mission, among others. Recently, the group branched out of the Triangle,
sending blankets to victims of the West Virginia flooding.
You can pitch in by donating materials or a financial
contribution, or by making a blanket of your own (all blankets must be new,
handmade, and clean). Local blanket-making groups include the Cary Blanketeers,
who meet the second and fourth Wednesday of the month in Cary, and the
Greystone Blanketeers, who meet the fourth Tuesday of each month. The chapter
also has an annual Make a Blanket Day; it’ll be hosted Feb. 18, 2017 at Temple
Beth Or.
Each contribution is a small task when compared to its great
impact – a child’s happiness. Linus would be proud.
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