On March 29, over 200 patrons and volunteers packed the William Hall Library auditorium throughout the day on behalf of the Rhode Island Chapter of Project Linus. The goal of the day is to make as many blankets as possible to donate to youth undergoing traumatic circumstances. The event, called Project Linus Blanket Day, is an offshoot of the weekly Knit and Crochet Drop-In that has been taking place at William Hall Library for several years. 

According to the Project Linus website, the mission of Project Linus is to “[p]rovide 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’. ” Martha Sholes, a long-time member of William Hall’s weekly knitting group, coordinates efforts for the Rhode Island Chapter of Project Linus, and works with William Hall Branch Librarian Zach Berger to schedule two Blanket Days per year, one in the spring and one in the fall. But this important work is not done only on the two designated Blanket Days. Volunteers work all year long to produce blankets. Sholes delivers approximately 125 blankets per month to Hasbro Children's Hospital and 625 blankets quarterly to children in RI. 

Michele Faust, a member of William Hall’s weekly knitting group, was enticed by Sholes a couple of years ago to get involved with Project Linus when she saw how fulfilling the work could be and how much need there is around the state for donated blankets. “Helping other people makes me feel good,” Faust says, and she credits the tireless work of Sholes and many other volunteers for producing quantifiable results. 

The weekly knitting group is a regular source of volunteers for this effort. Faust acknowledges that “everybody has tried new challenges and gone out of their comfort zones to create usable items to donate. We share books of patterns and rely on in-kind contributions. People bring in scraps from home.” Blankets are knit, crocheted, quilted, or made from no-sew fleece.

The group, which meets on Wednesdays from 12:30-2:00 PM in the William Hall Library Program Room, is convivial and helpful, and though the weekly meetings are not set up as a class, no one is shy to ask for or to offer help.

The weekly drop-in group welcomes new members who, Faust, says, “want to feel good about their contributions and what they’re doing to help others.” But not everything produced by the group is for the purpose of donating to Project Linus, and the weekly meetings serve other useful social functions as well, including making the occasional out-of-towner feel welcome and engaged.

“The beauty of this whole project,” says Berger, “is its organic outgrowth of altruism and shared sense of community, all in service to a greater good. Whether these volunteers are using the weekly drop-in to socialize while planning for and creating future donations, to make gifts for their families, or are committing to helping in larger ways at the Blanket Day events themselves, everyone has a chance to contribute at their own pace and comfort level.”

The next Project Linus Blanket Day is scheduled at William Hall Library on Saturday, October 25. Watch the Events tab at cranstonlibrary.org for more information. For more information about Project Linus opportunities, please contact the Rhode Island state coordinator Martha Sholes at marthagsholes@gmail.com.