News and Newsletters

To date our chapter has donated 17,411 blankets to children in need. Everyone should give themselves a pat on the back. Whether you have given one or many blankets, you have touched a child's life. As the numbers show, our chapter has continued to grow and grow. It's hard to believe, but Sherran is in her fourth year as your coordinator. She's attaining the goal of coordinating us for five years. So, in the fall of 2009 Sherran will be resigning. We're on the lookout for a new coordinator, or coordinator team! Please let Sherran know if you are interested, or have a good candidate to share.

Can you believe that it is 2008 already? We've delivered over 15,500 blankets as a chapter. Sherran hauled home 273 blankets from our 6th annual Make A Blanket Day (MABD). It was held Saturday, February 16th at Brubaker’s Sewing Center. There were 50 blanketeers in attendance. Thanks again Brubaker's for your fantastic hosting of this event!

August has been busy! We had our first quilting bee in the Landis Homes community room. Dove Church also had a great quilting bee. Due to the wonderful generosity of our blanketeers, we've added new agencies that we can serve.

For updates, see the September, 2007 newsletter just posted, and the Photo Gallery for pictures!

Lots of good news in our June, 2007 newsletter! Take a look - info on the new quilting bee location, the fall "Thank you!" Tea, and profiles on two more of our wonderful blanketeers.

See the February, 2007 (end of February) newsletter posted. It includes the information from our 2007 Make a Blanket Day! Eleanor Wahl, one of our "Yarnies" is featured in the Blanketeer Highlights.

Sherran will be away once again from February 21st through early April. She says, "I do not have an exact return date as my husband and I will be helping our son’s family come back across country to his new duty station in Connecticut. At last, one of my children will be on the east coast. Hooray!!! Mim Snyder (717-665-7495) has given me permission to have her phone number distributed. If you are in need of labels, please call Mim and she will mail them to you. I will have distributed both February and March blanket deliveries in February before I depart. So you really will not realize I’m gone. :) Thanks Mim for your help in my absence. I will also be checking my email while I am away (except for the drive back) if you need to contact me. I will NOT be checking for phone messages."

TAPS Good Grief Camp for Young Survivors is held annually in Washington D.C. around Memorial Day. So Sherran is requesting those of you who feel so inclined please make a red, white and blue blanket to be turned in by mid-May. Since we have a connection outside of TAPS asking for documented fallen soldiers we will have a way to distribute the blankets if not needed for the TAPS camp.

Two of our Linus Blanketeers provided other community organizations with information about our chapter. As a result of their efforts, our chapter received $150 donation from St. John Neumann’s Knights of Columbus and $180 donation from Friends of the Ephrata Library. Sue Loss was presented a check for $650 for Project Linus as she once again completed the necessary paperwork for a volunteer grant through her work at Pepperidge Farm (Campbell’s). A sincere Thank You to all three of our blanketeers for bringing those donations to our chapter. The children will benefit.

Anyone interested in chairing or being on an advertising committee please contact Sherran at n3lom@juno.com. After checking with National we have learned we can use paid advertising in our newsletters. We have some suggestions for contacts to see if they'd be willing to purchase a business card size ad for a fee which would cover three newsletters in a yr. The committee would make contacts and request checks be written to Project Linus, sent to Sherran along with their business card. Please contact Sherran via the email above.

There's a newly formed Linus Club at Lancaster Mennonite High School. See our Photo Gallery for hand-tied quilts made by LMHS blanketeers and presented to Project Linus. THANK YOU!...

Make A Blanket Day was held for the 5th year at Brubaker’s Sewing Center on February 17. There were 44 people in attendance, which was quite good with the still icy roads that some had to travel. Blankets collected, sewn and bagged totaled 361 for the day. Additional tops and blankets were sewn and ready for tying. The place was abuzz with chatter and busy hands. This year, Brubaker’s sponsored an additional drawing for a floor lamp that was won by Rita Barranco. The Janome sewing machine drawing was won by Bonnie Brubaker who “dreamt the night before that she had won.” To say Bonnie was thrilled would be an understatement.

Thank you to Brubaker’s for their 5th year of sponsorship. Thank you too to all the blanketeers who made the day such a success.

Project Linus was featured on NBC's Nightly News with Brian Williams on Friday Jan 19, 2007...the "Making a Difference" segment. It features the woman who started Project Linus: Karen Loucks-Rinedollar, as well as pays tribute to all of us "blanketeers"! Here's the News clip at NBC news!

Project Linus Make a Blanket Day is coming soon! Please join us again this year at Brubakers in New Holland for the national Project Linus Make a Blanket Day on Saturday, February 17th, 2007 from 10 am until 2 pm. Click on the "Drop Off Locations" link for directions to Brubakers.

Any blankets donated at Brubakers (one of our normal drop off centers) from January 1 until Feb 17 we will give you a ticket to be entered into a drawing to win a Janome 3050 computerized sewing machine!

We're back after our holiday hiatus, so see that there is a January Yarn-in at the Ephrata library.

Blanket counts sent to National Project Linus: During October, November, and December 2006... 475 blankets have been collected, and 784 blankets have been distributed.

Since the Lititz/Lancaster Chapter of Project Linus began over 6 years ago 12,411 blankets have found their way into children’s hands in Lancaster County. Wow! Please keep up the wonderful needlework!

We received this from our friends at A.C. Moore:
AC Moore Community Event- Warm-Up America
We are an arts & crafts retail chain with 122 stores on the east coast, from Maine to Florida. We have special events in our stores throughout the year. These events are planned on a corporate level for the same date and time in all of our locations. We offer demonstrations and door prizes. We try to educate our customers with the latest products, techniques, and tools in the department which the event is promoting.
.....On Saturday, January 20th, 2007 we will be doing a yarn event. Although the Holidays will be over we would like to extend the season of giving, with Warm Up Your Heart. We will be hosting a Warm Up America knit-a-thon and we would like to collect knit caps and hats for chemotherapy patients.
.....Warm Up America is an organization made up of volunteers who create handmade afghan blankets, clothing and accessories to help those in need. These items provide warmth and comfort to people who have lost their homes, fled abusive relations, or are being cared for in hospices, shelters, hospitals, and nursing homes. People are asked to knit or crochet 7” x 9” rectangles which are then joined to create finished afghans. The finished afghans are then donated to organizations in need in the area. Joining the varying textures, colors and stitches reflect the diversity and union of our nation.
.....Our goal is to warm as many hearts as possible! On the day of our event, we would like to set aside the classrooms in our stores for the knit-a-thon. We will provide yarn and needles and we will invite customers to come and knit rectangles for Warm Up America. Customers can stay for as long as they would like. We will also invite people to bring finished swatches with them. The stores will pick a later date for a “Joining Party,” where people can gather to finish the afghans. Once the afghans are finished we would like the stores to distribute them to local shelters, hospitals, nursing homes, or other organizations that may be in need.
.....We would also like to collect knit or crocheted caps and scarves for chemotherapy patients. We will keep collection boxes for these items in the stores through February. The stores will then donate these items to local hospitals to be dispersed to patients undergoing treatment.
.....We would like the Girl Scouts help in these matters. We would partner interested troops with stores in their area. If you can’t knit or crochet, gather finished 7” x 9” knit or crocheted rectangles, hats, and scarves in advance and bring them to the event. We would definitely love having your group come on the day of the event to keep the knit-a-thon going. Nobody likes being “first” so if we have some people already started, more will jump in. We will definitely also need help during the joining party and to distribute the afghans to your community.
.....This is a great opportunity to reach out to people in need.
Tammy at A.C. Moore (717) 219-1140
Fax # (717) 291-1429
Sherran's note: You may want to call and let Tammy know if you will be attending this event. She is hoping Project Linus blanketeers will be there. She knows what experts you all are:)

Help Project Linus by eating at Isaac's
Mark your calendar for Thursday, November 2, 2006.
Isaac’s Restaurant in the Greenfield Industrial Park will be hosting a fund-raiser for Project Linus. Our chapter will receive 25% of the cost of your dinner when you give your server this Isaac's form . If you misplace the form or can't download it, Isaac’s will have some available at the restaurant. So please be sure to ask for it before paying. The fund-raiser starts at 4PM and is only at the Greenfield location. Hope you will enjoy dinner out and help our chapter at the same time. Thank You in advance.

Look at the Photo Gallery and see the great fun! for all ages at the Dove church as they make quilts for Project Linus. The Dove New-Fashioned Sewing Circle Day on October 14th was an overwhelming success. The goal was to have 50 finished blankets, but they were able to do 75 or 80! There were about 35 enthusiastic workers from 5 years old to 80+. The five-year-old especially had a wonderful time! Several asked when we are going to do this again...

Notice for the October 21st Quilting Bee: The October Quilting Bee is being moved to Jo Stauffer's home due to a conflict on the church calendar.
Jo Stauffer's House
14 Bentley Lane
Lititz, PA
This will be a "finishing tops" workshop as we have a lot of tops in various stages of completion. Jo has 3 sewing machines. No need to bring sewing machines to this workshop. Still bring your finished tops and we will complete even more.
Call Jo at 626-0012 if you need verbal directions,or if you have email, you may email her at quiltjls@yahoo.com and she will email you directions from mapquest.

Pictures from our October 21st "Thank you!" tea are in the photo gallery, demonstrating what a good time the group had. Make sure to come next year, it's a beautiful way for blanketeers to share an enjoyable non-working event with fellow blanketeers.

In the aftermath of grief from the Nickel Mines Amish school shootings, we were blessed to be able to contribute blankets to the Amish and Roberts families. Sherran posted this 10/12/06 update for our blanketeers:
"Thanks to Carol Cover for her assistance in finding the best way to get our blankets to the Amish families. Today (Thursday) I delivered 120 blankets to the Bart Fire Dept. A note to the children was included with each bag for delivery. The blankets will be delivered by the volunteer fireman along with other mail & donations.
Thank you to Cheryl, another blanketeer, who was able to connect with a relative of the Roberts'. The blankets were given to the relative Tuesday this week and would be gotten to the children ASAP.
Thank You to ALL who made deliveries of blanket donations either to my home or drop off locations early this week. I was able to make our normal scheduled deliveries for October & November on Wednesday and still have some blankets towards December's deliveries. December will most likely see a heavier need for blankets due to colder weather. So please keep the blankets coming.
Again I feel Blessed to have such an active chapter who rise to any challenge that comes our way."

SEPTEMBER 2006 NEWS

On September, 30....Mim Snyder and Phyllis Davis demonstrated knitting & crocheting, showcasing Project Linus, at the A.C. Moore Yarn and Bead Craft Day. Thank you!

See the September, 2006 Yarn-In blanketeers and blankets in our Photo Gallery. We're getting ready for a busy October! Check out the calendar. Our Blanketeer "Thank you" tea and the Dove Sewing Circle are on Saturday, October 14th. Our October quilting bee is Saturday, October 21st. October 28th is Yarn-In. See you there!

AUGUST 2006 NEWS

The Willow Valley friends and family work group formed a year ago in response to our chapter's call to comfort Hurricane Katrina's youngest survivors. They've donated over 550 quilts/blankets since September, 2005. Key to success of this band of quilters is flexibility - encouraging anyone that would like to help to choose what they'd like to do, and when. This "loose" organization works since members live near each other in the Willow Valley Retirement communities. When interviewed, the ladies had these comments:

Lois says "Very proud….never would have suspected that I could produce like I did. I’m especially pleased with the quality of the blankets. That’s important, because we want it to be a special gift for a child. We tried to take great care with a selection for the wishes and likes of each child – ballerinas, spaceships, racecars, animals, cartoon characters.".

Margaret reflected on the year of work "We did a tremendous job. I liked the creativity to be able to do what I wanted to do, when I was able to do it. I’m sure we touched the lives of children, and I’m happy to be able to support “the system” in a more personal way. The variety of quilts was nice for the children, and I’m grateful to good local fabric shopping in the area so we can find economical fabric."

Peg is quite an artist in many ways - painting, woodworking. She says "I've been sewing since I was a child. I like to keep busy, and it was wonderful to work on the quilts. I took pictures to show my friends in Arizona what I've been up to."

Naomi likes to work on quilt bindings over the winter months. Not only are the quilts nice to work on, but it makes for a cozy job!

Nancy thinks it is a wonderful way to link the generations: grandmothers and great-grandmothers working to comfort children. It's fun to team together for jobs, working around our quirks to get it all done. Let's not forget our men! Francis proudly shows off our work to everyone in the retirement community - we're based in Willow Valley. He cleans up after us, and feeds us on our workdays. John cheerfully provides "muscle" as we need it (he's the only one of us that has any).

On August 8th, we got word that our coordinator Sherran is back home here in Lancaster County after her cross-country summer. Welcome back, Sherran! A big THANK YOU! to Mim and Lisa for filling in during Sherran's "trip of a lifetime".

JULY 2006 NEWS

During April, May, and June 2006...

763 blankets have been collected
943 blankets have been distributed

Since the Lititz/Lancaster Chapter of Project Linus began over 6 years ago 11,159 blankets have found their way into children’s hands in Lancaster County. Wow! Please keep up the wonderful needlework!

JUNE 2006 NEWS

The DOVE Westgate Women's Ministry is planning a Sewing Circle Day with the main objective of being blanketeers for Project Linus. Everyone is invited!

on Saturday, October 14, 2006 from 9:30 a.m. - 2:30 p.m.
Lunch is included.

DOVE Westgate
1755 W. Main Street (Rte 322, right across from Sharp Shopper)
Ephrata, PA

For more information, Contact:
Priscilla Hodecker: 237 Evans Road, Lititz, PA; 626-6802 phone or e-mail mispris1@juno.com
or
Grace Arnold: 1134 Cider Press Road, Manheim, PA 17545; 665-2096 phone or e-mail Gracia@dejazzd.com

A huge THANK YOU! to Jill and the wonderful ladies at Boehm's Church in Willow Street for hosting our June 17th quilting bee. A good time was had by all. The ladies treated us to wonderful goodies and door prizes, and their beautiful hall is cheerful and full of light...just perfect for quilting! Stay tuned, and we'll post pictures as they become available. After the quilting bee, we currently have about 20 quilts that are finished except for tying or machine quilting. We also have fleece for those of you who enjoy making fleece blankets. If you would like to help with either of these projects, please call Lisa Garner at 717-299-2144.

We're so proud! See the June 11, 2006 Lancaster Sunday newspaper article honoring the volunteerism of our own Lisa Garner!

A Lancaster newspapers feature on a very special lady!

We've just posted our June, 2006 newsletter here on this "News and Newsletters" page. If you don't have Adobe Acrobat to view/print the newsletter, you can download it free from the "Links" section. Happy reading!

Lindsey Dean of New Freedom presented the Lititz/Lancaster Chapter of Project Linus with 50 fleece blankets. As Lindsey's service project to earn her Girl Scout Gold Award, she chose to coordinate and lead Brownie and Girl Scout troops in her area by making fleece blankets for Project Linus. Approximately 28 troops participated in making blankets. A total of 175 blankets were contributed. Lindsey is sharing the wealth of blankets with three Project Linus chapters. Lindsey learned of Project Linus through her mother. Mrs. Butcher shared that she came in touch with Project Linus through a sewing store. She also shared that many of the troops had not heard of Project Linus. So we thank Lindsey and her Mom not only for the donation of blankets but for spreading the word of Project Linus.

MAY 2006 NEWS

Well, it's time now that we date our news here on the website, so we'll start organizing news by month.

Help Needed:

Jo Stauffer has picked three days for Kit Cutting Days: June 7, 13, 14. They are two Wednesdays and one Tuesday. Jo will have her house available from about 11 am on for anyone who wants to come and help cut out kits for those people who don't have rotary skills or prefer not to cut too much. You should bring a lite lunch if you desire. There is no hard start time or finish time. Just call Jo(626-0012) to let her know you are coming . She will plan to have several spots where people can cut. You can also email Jo at: quiltjls@yahoo.com Also, if you don't want to spend the time at Jo's house cutting, you can take some fabric combos and cut at your leisure. She will also have simple patterns to follow. You just need to choose what you want for the kit combo you choose. Jo's house will be air conditioned if the weather is very warm, so not to worry about the possible sticky June weather. Jo's hoping to have the kits for the Project Linus workday on the 17Th of June as that is when a lot of them get taken home to be finished.

Special Event - Weekend Sewing Retreat We are hosting a restful sewing retreat at Black Rock Retreat in Quarryville from September 8 - 10, 2006. Bring your own sewing project, machine and supplies and leave the rest up to Black Rock! Weekend includes 2 nights lodging, 5 buffet style meals and metting work room for the group. The cost is only $150 and we have one more room available!

Contact Lisa Garner immediately if interested to get more information. Her phone number is 299-2144 and her email address is schoener@verizon.net

Reminder that the June 17th Quilting Bee will be held at Boehm's Church (Willow Street) in the social hall.
Date: June 17th
Time: 10 AM till 2 PM
Please bring your sewing machine and a brown bag lunch. The church women will provide drink and desserts.

Directions: 272 S. to Willow Valley. After the third traffic light(Penn Grant Rd) take next right, Baumgardner Rd. Make the first left onto Boehm's Rd. Church will be on the right.

Any questions please contact Jill Harsh at 393-2203. Thank you, Jill and Boehm's for hosting this quilting bee.

We're excited with the generosity of the the MOMS Club of Garden Spot. They donated gorgeous blankets, and we're touched by their spirit. It's especially heartwarming to see these Moms and children helping other Moms and children. Look in the Photo Gallery to see pictures of the blanket delivery event.

MOMS Club of Garden Spot
New Holland, PA
www.community.lancasteronline.com/gsmoms

Another exciting donation this month came from the Sigma Sigma Sigma (Tri-Sigma) sorority of Gettysburg College. These 50! blankets were a great mixture of quilts and fleece, even some crocheted. We're so very happy to have these fine ladies join us as Blanketeers.

The Stauffers May 13th Sub/bake Sale tally was $420.00. Thank you to those who helped make, sell and bought subs:) Shortly there will be pictures on our website.

Sherran reports that on May 12th, 115 red, white & blue patriotic blankets were shipped to the TAPS program for the Memorial Day distribution. Enjoy some of the pictures in the website Photo Gallery. Everyone's efforts are greatly appreciated.

This chapter certainly rises to any requests and I'm so proud of all your heartfelt work on behalf of the children. A few of the other national chapters were reporting their numbers on the digest. Most sent 4, 6, 8 or 10 blankets. I'd say we out did ourselves but there will be so many comforted children thanks to your efforts. I'll keep you posted if I get any feedback.

The next newsletter should be coming out early June.

PRE-MAY 2006 NEWS

In April 2006, we received twenty-eight blankets from the NorthHills Elementary School Service Club. See pictures in our Photo Gallery! This is the 2nd annual donation for this group of young people, so a very special THANK YOU! to this service club and their teacher.

We're looking for a volunteer to spend a half an hour a month at Homestead Village with a group of ladies who have been crocheting or knitting blankets for us. Please contact Sherran(684-5202) or Mim(665-7495) for further information.

Our Lititz/Lancaster Chapter delivers 10,000th blanket!

During January, February, and March 2006...

1,165 blankets have been collected
788 blankets have been distributed

Since the Lititz/Lancaster Chapter of Project Linus began over 6 years ago 10,216 blankets have found their way into children’s hands in Lancaster County. Wow! Please keep up the wonderful needlework!

Mim Snyder tells us that the Ephrata Library will be closed for the Memorial Day holiday. So, our May 27th Yarn-in day is cancelled.

Get Well Thank You

Margaret Thorpe says: I would like to thank all the lovely people who sent me get-well greetings. I would particularly like to thank Judy Gobrecht for the lovely shawl. I am the envy of the other residents here in the Garden apts.

Margaret is a Blanketeer, and had pneumonia this winter. If you know of a Blanketeer that is ill, contact Sherran so we can keep in touch.

Received deadline for the TAPS blankets: the last of April. So lets say all blankets need to be in Sherran's hands by April 29.

In case some people have forgotten these are patriotic themed blankets to be given to the children of our fallen military. Barb our PL connection has been invited to attend the actual Memorial Service on behalf of PL. She was exceedlingly appreciative that our chapter is willing to help out.

If you want more info on TAPS please visit www.taps.org

Interested? If our chapter sponsored a weekend sewing retreat would you like to attend? The event would most likely begin Fri. evening and end early Sunday afternoon. A cost would be charged for housing and 5 meals and meeting room space. If interested please contact Lisa Garner at schoener@verizon.net or call her at 299-2144.

Date Corrections for Yarn-ins

Dates previously published for Yarn-ins were off by a day. Here are the 2006 Yarn-ins:

March 25
April 22
June 24
July 22
Aug 26
Sept 23
Oct 28

Successful Make a Blanket Day (MABD): February, 18, 2006

64 people ventured to Brubaker’s Sewing Center in New Holland for MABD. Besides enjoying the company of fellow blanketeers, the day added over 500 blankets to our chapter. Blankets were dropped off as well as made that day. There were a total of 959 chances for the Janome sewing machine since October. This is a new record for our chapter.

Diana Masterson gave a demonstration of the Janome sewing machine that was being chanced. Door prizes and food added to the enjoyment of the day.

Winner of the Janome Sewing machine was pulled from the chances by last year’s winner Peggy Dick. Kathleen Van Gorden is the owner of the new Janome machine. Our chapter will be excited to see the blankets Kathleen creates with her new machine.

Requests for Bonnie's recipe at Make a Blanket Day

1 stick of butter (1/2 cup)
1 stick margarine(1/2 cup)
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 pack graham crackers
crushed nuts(pecans or walnuts)

break graham crackers into fourths onto cookie sheet. Melt butter, margarine and sugar and boil 3 minutes only. Pour over crackers, sprinkle nuts over top and bake at 350 degrees for only 9 minutes. Place on wax paper to cool.

TAPS, Hospice Camp, and Burn Camp

Please keep up your wonderful handiwork. Our chapter will be providing fleece blankets to the Burn Camp and blankets to the Hospice Camp this summer. So please keep the blankets coming. Another special project for our chapter this year will be to send blankets to a Memorial Day Service in Washington, D.C. for children of fallen heroes. You can visit www.taps.org to learn more. Please be sure to use patriotic materials, red, white and blue for these blankets. I’ll need them by the beginning of May to ship in time for the service.

Spring Fundraiser

May 13 (Saturday), 2006, we are having a one day fund-raiser at Stauffer’s of Kissel Hill in Lititz to help with chapter costs. We will be asking for 6 volunteers to help in making the 100’ sub (you will need to wear a hairnet) and additional people to operate a sub stand that day. We will do half hour to hour shifts till the sub is sold. If you are unable to volunteer time, please spread the word to friends to come purchase their lunch from Project Linus.

Please contact Sherran at 684-5202 or email her at n3lom@juno.com to sign up to help by April 14!! Our chapter is counting on your assistance to make this fund-raiser a success.