News

Creating hugs for children in need

By Scott Wagar

04/03/2012

Lori Erickson’s second grade class this past week made blankets for “Project Linus,” which is a non-profit organization that provides children with blankets who are seriously ill, traumatized or in need during difficult times.

“This is our service project. We made two blankets, one for a little boy and one for a little girl,” Erickson said. “I will be sending the two blankets to the Fargo Chapter of the Linus Project and they will be distributed to children in need, for kids who just need hugs, which is what the Project Linus is all about.”

The project started for Erickson’s second grade class on Monday, with the girls making one blanket and the boys making the other.

“The kids did the measuring, cutting and tying of the blankets,” Erickson said. “We started out talking about what it is like to have a blanket around you, how to make it feel like a big hug and how they are used to help other children.”

The origins of the Project Linus was established on Christmas Eve of 1995 when Karen Loucks was reading an article by the Pulitzer Prize photo-journalist, Eddie Adams in the Parade Magazine titled, “Joy to the World.” A portion of the article was about a young child going through chemo therapy who stated that her security blanket was assisting her in getting through her difficult treatments.

Once Louck completed reading the article, she made the decision to supply handmade blankets to children in Denver’s Rocky Mountain Children’s Cancer Center, which was the beginning of Project Linus.

The organization’s name comes from Charles Schultz’s character, Linus, in the Peanuts comic strip. Linus was known for his security blanket in the comic stripe and Loucks felt that Project Linus was the most secure and comfortable name for her project.

In 17 years, Project Linus went from one chapter to 368 chapters today, which have collected over four million security blankets from thousands of “blanketeers,” AKA, “volunteers” like Erickson’s second grade class to provide love, security, warmth and comfort to child in need.

On an average, Project Linus donates 350 blankets to all 50 states in the U.S. each month. The blankets are sent to hospitals, shelters, social service agencies and other areas, which assist children in need.

Erickson said that she is pleased with her second graders and the volunteer work they are doing for the Linus Project.

“The project went wonderful,” Erickson said.