The next NRV Project Linus Blanket Day will be June 16, 2018! It will be held at Grove United Methodist Church, 1020 Tyler Avenue, Radford, VA from 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM
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4/7/2018
Hello Friends,
We have an opportunity to help with a national blanket collection effort
to benefit the TAPS organization (Tragedy Assistance Program for
Survivors). Project Linus National supports TAPS with a blanket
collection annually. These blankets will be given to children attending
the TAPS Memorial Day Good Grief Camp. This camp provides support to
children and
military families of fallen heroes as well as children of military
personnel and veterans who commit suicide. You can read more about TAPS
at their website: www.TAPS.org.
If you’d like to help with blankets for this special collection, here are
the details:
40 x 45 inches is a good size to keep in mind (1-1/2 yards of fleece with
the selvage edges cut off makes a nice size blanket). No baby blankets
are needed, in size or pattern/color. The children attending are ages
4-18. Red-white-blue theme is acceptable, but please do not make a
blanket resembling the American flag. Camouflage theme blankets are
accepted but keep it ‘happy’. The pink, grey and orange camouflage
fabrics are fun for kids and pink camouflage is especially popular.
This year, single-layer fleece blankets with crocheted edges or other
finishes and lightweight quilts are being requested. No double layered
fleece blankets are needed. Army and Marines are the most popular
branches of the military based on past camps, but blankets representing
all branches of the military are good. Children’s blankets of other
themes are popular as well. Remember, blankets should be approximately 40
x 45 or larger, up to full-size adult blankets.
I have committed to giving 50 blankets to TAPS this year and will be
delivering them at the end of the month. If you feel led to make a
blanket for this collection, please have it to me by April 26. Thanks in
advance if you decide to make a blanket for TAPS!
Fondly,
Penny Sweet (PHS1010@aol.com)
http://www.nrvprojectlinus.org
Kohls #1518 from the New River Valley Mall held their own blanket day today. Thanks for all of the blankets!
2/26/2018
A huge THANK YOU to Christiansburg Boy Scout Troop 145!
The members of the troop selected all of the fabric and made 10 blankets for Project Linus!
Thanks so much!
We love this picture of Bette Wright from Blanket Day! Bette has volunteered with our chapter since 2000, attending all the blanket day events, often bringing food to share. She is always willing to help others with sewing projects and has donated 255 blankets herself. She is a priceless addition to our chapter and the idol of our chapter coordinator!
Here is a link to a great article about our Blanket Day that was in the Roanoke Times. Over 500 blankets were collected during our most recent Blanket Day! Thanks to all the Blanketeers who have contributed to our on-going success!
01/24/2018
Current Statistics for NRV PROJECT LINUS
Blankets made October – December 2017 – 876
Blankets distributed October – December 2017 – 526
Total Blankets Distributed in 2017 – 2,238
Total Blankets Distributed since NRV Project Linus inception – 35,813
1/28/2018
Hello Friends,
Our chapter will be sending 30 blankets to Kentucky for the students at Marshall County High School. Our National President sent an email to coordinators asking for help filling the need for 1,300 total blankets for those students affected by the tragedy that occurred last week.
We are fortunate to have blankets ready to go that are suitable for high
school age kids. Thanks to all of our wonderful Blanketeers, we have
enough blankets to cover our local needs as well as to be able to help
with this important collection.
Hope to see you at Blanket Day on February 17!
A SPECIAL THANK YOU TO THE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION FOR A GRANT OF $1,000 TOWARDS THE WEIGHTED BLANKETS PROJECT!
Starting the New Year with some amazing news! With YOUR generosity and support, Radford Craft & Draft was able to donate ONE THOUSAND dollars to NRV Project Linus!! We are thrilled that this local non-profit received such an amazing donation, and we couldn’t have done it without you all and our amazing sponsors! Thanks to our partners Radford Chamber of Commerce, Green Heron Arts, & Kayla Crowder Music Coordination, and our Platinum Sponsors Bondurant Realty Property Management, Radford Coffee Company, 105.3 The Bear, The Roanoke Times, Ballpark Signs, New River Valley Rent-All, as well as our local amazing sponsors listed in the comments! Thank you!!
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.
October 10, 2017
What a terrific day we had on Saturday! Whether you were there in person
or with us in spirit, thanks to each one of you for supporting NRV Project
Linus! 510 new blankets were collected on Saturday, either being made at
the event or made at home and dropped off that day. We had 62 adults and
other community members join us along with 35 college students.
A special thanks to those who helped provide lunch for our blanketeers! We
had a wonderful lunch of homemade sandwiches, sides and desserts! I can’t
thank Meg W. enough for her hard work in the kitchen!!
In the past quarter (April-June), we took in 673 blankets and gave out
622. The total number of blankets given out since the beginning of our
chapter is 34,686.
We will have our craft booth at a couple of craft fairs this fall. If you
would like to donate some handmade items for the booth, we would be so
grateful. Proceeds raised at the craft fairs help support our chapter
activities through the year.
Lastly, NRV Project Linus has been chosen as the non-profit beneficiary of
this year’s Radford Craft and Draft! The event is this Saturday, October
14 from 11am-6pm at the 3rd Avenue parking lot in Radford. There will be
craft and food vendors and we will have a Project Linus information booth.
Make plans to come to this fun event and stop by to say hello!
Thank you again for making our chapter such a great thing to be a part of!
Fondly,
Penny Sweet (PHS1010@aol.com)
Photos from our October 2017 Blanket Day.
2017 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.