New River Valley‐Radford Chapter
Letter from our Coordinators
Blanket Day Update
10/10/22
Hello Friends,
We appreciate everyone who was able to participate in Blanket Day yesterday. Whether you stopped by to say hello, drop off blankets, stayed to sew on labels or work on a blanket, we appreciate you! We missed those who weren’t able to attend and hope to see you at a future event!
Yesterday, 228 blankets were made and donated. We had 39 community members and 11 university students participate. Special thanks to all who helped with set up and clean up, brought food to share, and who helped in the kitchen. Our sweet kitchen angel, Meg, is doing fine after her fall and no fractures found. She is resting at home. If you would like to send her a get-well note, her email address is Trk1@comcast.net.
Remember to sign up for the Project Linus Mystery Quilt Challenge! It’s good for all levels of quilters, including beginners! More information and sign up at www.projectlinus.org. Please list New River Valley-Radford Chapter and Penny Sweet when you sign up and we will receive the full registration fee. Your donations help keep our chapter going and able to continue to provide blankets for children in the NRV!
Sincerely,
Penny Sweet, coordinator
Laura Eanes, assistant
Facebook: NRV Project Linus
Website: www.nrvprojectlinus.org
Blanket Drop Off Reminder –
You can always leave blankets at Sew Biz or Joann Fabrics (drop box inside to the left of the door) whenever you have some ready.
Quick Links
Suggested sizes for blankets:
Infants – 36″x36″ to 40″x 40″ Child (2-4) 45″x60″
Youth (7-12) 50″x70″ Teen (13-18) 60″x80″
Facebook: NRV Project Linus
June 2022
Current Statistics for NRV PROJECT LINUS
Blankets received July – September 2022 – 206
Blankets distributed July – September 2022 – 481
Total Blankets Distributed since NRV Project Linus inception – 46,109
Would you like to learn a special skill??
NRV Project Linus provides weighted blankets to children with special needs. These blankets retail for between $100-$250 making it totally inaccessible for most children in need. We have an expert weighted blanket artisan who can’t wait to share her skills with someone who would like to learn to assist with this special project. Materials are provided but you would need to own a sewing machine and have basic sewing skills. Please contact Penny Sweet if you are interested.
PROJECT LINUS DID YOU KNOW?
- Karen Loucks started Project Linus on December 24,1995. The New River Valley-Radford Chapter begin in June, 2000.
- Project Linus nationally has been alive for 6.942 days as of January 1.2017
- Project Linus nationally has had non-profit status since May 12, 1997
- The New River Valley-Radford Chapter of Project Linus donated 2,441 blankets in 2016. Since we started, we have delivered 33,467 blankets!
- Project Linus nationally has officially collected over 6,063,751 blankets as of January 1, 2017. If 60% of them are fabric, that translated into over 10,914,751 yards of fabric. If 40% are afghans, that is over 19,404,003 skeins of yarn.
- If each blanket is an average of 60: long, and we laid them end to end, they would stretch 30,318,755 feet or 5,742 miles. That is as tall as 1,44 Mt. Everests, or 17,071 One World Trade Centers or 24,255 Empire State Buildings or as long as 101,062 football fields.
Project Linus was named after the adorable security blanket-toting character from the Peanuts© comic strip. Creator Charles Schulz was aware of our efforts and was delighted to have Linus inspire blanket makers to help comfort children in need.
Project Linus began in December 1995 after Karen Loucks was inspired to make blankets for her local children’s cancer center. Since then, Project Linus has expanded to include children who are seriously ill or traumatized in many ways.
MISSION STATEMENT
Project Linus is a volunteer non-profit organization with a two-fold mission:
FIRST, it is our mission to provide love, a sense of security, warmth and comfort to children who are seriously ill, traumatized, or otherwise in need through the gifts of new, handmade blankets and afghans, lovingly created by volunteer “blanketeers.”
SECOND, it is our mission to provide rewarding and fun service opportunity for interested individuals and groups in local communities, for the benefit of children.
Anyone, any age, can help these children. It is within your power to make a difference.
Nearly 400 chapters of Project Linus exist nationally, with more than 4,000,000 blankets donated to children.