The next NRV Project Linus Blanket Day is scheduled for 9 a.m.–3 p.m. Saturday at Grove United Methodist Church (1020 Tyler Ave, Radford).
This is the eighteenth year the organization has celebrated Blanket Day and the gathering are held three times each year.
The community is invited to participate by helping to make blankets, sew the small, silk Project Linus signature labels onto completed blankets, and help with cleanup at the end of the day.
We will have some yarn, fabric, and other blanket supplies available.
Donations are always welcome.
If you plan to drop off completed blankets that day, please be sure each one is labeled with your name and on paper address labels.
“We try to make sure that every child in need that’s sick or traumatized receives a clean, new handmade blanket,” Penny Sweet, NRV Project Linus coordinator said.
The group gives blankets to shelters, social services offices, fire and sheriff departments, and hospitals in Giles, Pulaski, Radford and Blacksburg.
The group has made and donated 38,000 since June 2000 – that’s 2111 every year. About 300 blankets are collected on Blanket Days, but the group will accept blankets all year long at several drop-off locations, even at Sweet’s house she said. And they need a lot of blankets.
“Any child that goes to the hospital, the emergency room, is admitted or even goes in for out-patient surgery should have a blanket,” Sweet said.
She has been coordinating the effort for 18 years marked by milestones in her life.
“My grandson is 18 years old, so I’ve been doing it for eighteen years,” she said.
A Blanket Day is an informal, flexible occasion to contribute to the effort.
“People come and drop off blankets and others stay and put on labels silk tag Project Linus with a little picture of Linus on them. They help sew the tags on or stay a while and make blankets that day,” she said.
The Linus Project makes the effort easy. Sewing skill is not necessary since one blanket style uses fleece and minimal technique.
“We provide the fleece that day. You just cut around the edges and lap the ends and sew it. There’s a pattern on the website if people want to see ahead of time or make them ahead of time and bring them,” Sweet said.
“We have a good time. If you can sew a button on, that’ s all you need – at least to put the labels on and meet new people. If you’re new to the area, it’s a good way to meet people: making blankets to benefit local children in need,” she said.
Lunch will be provided.
For more information about Project Linus visit www.projectlinus.org/volunteer/.
