The Santa Clarita Valley/Antelope Valley/Sylmar chapter of Project Linus hosted its Spring Make-A-Blanket Day event on Saturday at College of the Canyons in Valencia. Over 200 people signed up to donate and make blankets that were then to be delivered to various charities in the chapter areas for children who are seriously ill and/or traumatized.
According to COC student and chapter president Lauryn Chang, the event was expected to bring in upwards of about 500 to 600 blankets. Some people made blankets at home and brought them in, others came to the event to make blankets. All blankets, Chang said, are handmade and they were very much needed.
“They (those receiving the blankets) get a chance to just have something warm and to hold on to in a time of need,” she said in an interview during the event. “Recently, we donated most — if not all — of our stock to victims of the L.A. fires. That’s why this event is really big, because we’re replenishing all our blankets.”
Project Linus is a volunteer nonprofit organization with a mission to provide a rewarding and fun service opportunity for interested individuals, students and groups in its local communities.
Chang spoke about the importance of the work that Project Linus does. Blankets for babies in a neonatal intensive care unit, for example, offer the comfort that they need when parents can’t be with them.
According to chapter coordinator Sharon Garvar, Project Linus began in the area after her son had received a blanket in 2010 during a bout he had with pneumonia in the neonatal intensive care unit. Garvar officially started the chapter in February 2013.
She said the impact a blanket has on others is huge. After the 2019 Saugus High School shooting, Garvar handed out blankets to teachers who would then give them to students in pain. Those teachers got emotional about it.
“They were so affected by it,” Garvar said. “If you think about it — when you take yourself back to a kid — a blanket was a shield, it was a cape, it was a fort. It’s all those layers of protection against a world that can be so cold and hard. So, when you’re having a really hard day and the world is just coming against you, don’t you just want to come home sometimes and put your blanket over your head? It’s no different for kids.”
Garvar, who teaches a class at COC called “nonprofit ventures,” said Saturday’s event was 100% run by her students. The goal of the class, in fact, is to teach her students how to run a nonprofit of their own.
Most of those who were volunteering to make blankets were junior high and high school students. Some, though, were younger. Girl Scouts participated.
Kylie Patterson, 10, from Girl Scout Troop 232 in Canyon Country, was at the event with her mom. She was working on a blanket that had a dog pattern. She said she loves crafts.
“I like stuff like clay and drawing,” Patterson said.
Her mom, Laura Patterson, who was with her, said that Kylie’s grandma makes blankets. The event on Saturday was a fun way for her daughter to do the same.
Also from Troop 232 was Lilly Martin, 11, who was working on a blanket that had a porcupine pattern. She was cutting strips at the end of the blanket. Her mom, Linda Martin, said her daughter would then tie those strips to make knotted fringe.
Lilly is also quite crafty in her personal life. She crochets. Her mom said her daughter had just finished crocheting a little octopus the day before. Lilly was very happy to be making the blanket on Saturday.
“She wanted to do this, knowing it’s going to go to help kids,” her mom said.
Lilly also understood what a comfort blanket means to a kid. While she didn’t have a blanket when she was younger, she did have a comfort stuffed monkey that she took everywhere. Knowing a blanket could have an equal effect on another, she was glad to do the work.
For more information about the Santa Clarita Valley/Antelope Valley/Sylmar chapter of Project Linus, go to SCVProjectLinus.org.
