Project Linus: happiness is a warm blanket

By Tom Moore

The term "security blanket" is not just a figure of speech where Project Linus is concerned. Named appropriately after the Charles Schulz Peanuts character who went everywhere with his blanket, Project Linus is a one hundred percent volunteer non-profit organization with branches across the country whose mission is 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, homemade, washable blankets and afghans." The volunteers who make and provide these blankets and afghans are known as "blanketeers."
Laredo now has its own blanketeers -- Dr. Frances Rhodes and Sandra Gray, educators at Texas A&M International University -- and they are looking for more to join their ranks.
Laredo falls under the San Antonio Chapter of Project Linus, which includes other South and Central Texas communities such as Zapata, Del Rio, Kerrville, and San Marcos.
"I'm not sure how many people knit and crochet in Laredo," said Rhodes. "There are a lot of people who'd like to do it but don't have the resources." She added that in San Antonio the Girl Scouts occasionally sponsor yarn drives for Project Linus volunteers. "It's a wonderful project," she said. "If we could get enough people to do this here, we could give blankets to kids at Mercy and Doctors Hospitals."
Project Linus was founded by Karen Loucks in Denver, Colorado. In 1995 she read an article titled "Joy to the World" in the Christmas Eve issue of Parade Magazine. Written by Pulitzer Prize-winning photojournalist Eddie Adams, the article featured the photo of a child who had been undergoing intensive chemotherapy and who had said that her security blanket helped her get through treatment. The story and photo inspired Loucks to provide homemade security blankets to the Rocky Mountain Children's Cancer Center in Denver.
Project Linus has since grown to over 300 chapters in the United States. As of January 2002, over 400,000 blankets have been delivered to children around the world, and the Project continues to do so.
After Sept. 11, thousand of blankets were sent to families in the Northeast affected by the attacks, said Rhodes, and thousands of blankets were also sent to children in Afghanistan.
Blankets for Project Linus can be of any sizes and style, including quilts, tied comforters, fleece blankets, crocheted or knitted afghans, and receiving blankets in child-friendly colors. They must be new, handmade, and washable. Because of the possibility of allergies, any blankets washed before donation must not have been washed with fabric softeners; additionally, smokers must wash blankets before donating.
"My personal goal is to do one a month," said Rhodes. "I've also sworn that each one is going to be different." Rhodes was recently given four boxes of quilting fabric, for anyone interested in quilting.
While Gray has previously made blankets for family members, including a grandchild and aunts, she is working on her first blanket for Project Linus. "I just happened to see Panchita knitting one time, and I love to do that, so I got involved," she said. "I think it's a worthwhile project."
Rhodes has knitted since the fourth grade ("I used to go school with my needles and a ball of yarn," she said), but recently she was diagnosed with macular degeneration, and is beginning to lose her sight due to glaucoma as well. "I want to do this while I still have sight," she said. "The books I love I can get on tape later. I can't get a pair of knitting needles on tape. I've often felt that it's real easy to give money for something. But when I do something like this, it's much more meaningful because it's a part of myself."
For more information on Project Linus or to donate blankets or materials, contact Dr. Frances Rhodes at (956) 726-9172, (956) 326-2608, or frhodes@tamiu.edu, or contact Sandra Gray at (956) 326-2132 or ssgray@tamiu.edu, or visit the Project Linus website at www.projectlinus.org.