Carroll County Project Linus is a nonprofit organization that makes, gathers and donates blankets to facilities that serve children in need such as hospitals, social service organizations, schools, fire companies and police stations.
In 1995, a woman in Colorado named Karen Loucks decided to create and donate blankets to Denver’s Rocky Mountain Children’s Cancer Center after reading about a child who had to endure two years of chemotherapy. She decided handmade security blankets would give comfort to children in distress, and Project Linus was born.
Project Linus is now a national organization with 294 chapters. There are chapters in almost all 50 states, with 10 in Maryland. Blankets are made by individuals and organizations, including church groups, groups who meet at libraries, senior centers, and schools. There are Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, Aktion Club, quilt groups and many more participating.
There are seven donation sites throughout Carroll County. Judy Geiman and Sue Suidikus coordinate the process of blanket distribution. Each week blankets are picked up and labeled by volunteers. Then they are brought to a monthly sorting event and separated into types of blankets, including quilted, knitted or crocheted, fleece, teens and infant to suit the different needs of recipients. Some locations get a mixture of all blanket types and others have special needs for only one type of blanket.
The Carroll group receives about 400 blankets a month to distribute. On designated Thursdays, a sewing group gets together to stitch. They enjoy the social aspect and also the opportunity to learn from each other.
Over the years, the Carroll County Chapter has distributed more than 138,000 blankets. In 2022, it distributed more than 5,100 blankets.
“I got involved in it in 2001,” said volunteer Anne Townsley. “Two teachers at North Carroll High School – Judy Walters, who started the local chapter and Mary Jo Kraft School – invited me to participate.”
Many of the volunteers do multiple tasks, creating, sorting, and delivering these gifts from the heart. Some people have made hundreds of blankets. Two women have developed a process to make quilts that enables them to make at least 10 a month.
“I deliver blankets and I have personally seen the comfort the blankets give to the children,” Townsley said. “One time when I delivered blankets to the University of Maryland Hospital playroom, I asked permission to give a blanket to a little 4-year-old girl. The little girl said her favorite color was pink. I asked her if she would like a pink blanket. Her eyes lit up and she picked a pink one out and wrapped herself in the blanket. Within minutes, she was told to climb into a wheelchair and was taken for an ultrasound. She did not know what an ultrasound was or where she was going but she had her own pink blanket to comfort her.”
Project Linus is funded by contributions from organizations and individuals. This past Feb. 18 was National Blanket Day. It started in 1999 after the school shooting in Columbine, Colorado. There was a great need for comforting blankets and people all over the United States held “blanket bees” to supply the needed blankets to Denver. As many as 75,000 to 100,000 blankets have been made on one blanket day!
If someone is interested in learning more or supporting the group, Carroll County Project Linus can be contacted at ccprojectlinus@gmail.com.
Lyndi McNulty is the owner of Gizmo’s Art in Westminster. Her column, An Eye for Art, appears regularly in Life & Times.
