Among kids at Shenandoah Valley Elementary who recently
made blankets to give to kids in local hospitals were a
number of veteran blanket-makers.
This was the second year the school's third-graders have
participated in Project Linus. The nationwide program is
named after the Peanuts' cartoon character, Linus, who's
always carrying a blanket for comfort.
Braiden
Blatt |
Last year, the current third graders didn't make blankets
at school. They were in second grade.
But, 8-year-old Braiden Blatt and her family made lots
of blankets to give as holiday presents. "I gave one of
them to a teacher as a holiday present," she said.
Another homemade present made by Braiden's family involved
pillows.
"One of my aunts is a doctor. We gave her four pillows
so she could give them to a family with two kids, one of
them with special needs," she said. Her aunt was treating
the child in the hospital.
Samantha
Schneiderman |
Nine-year-old Samantha Schneiderman was another with blanket-making
experience. "Last year, we had a 'havrah' gathering of about
20 at our home and we made blankets for Children's Hospital,"
she said.
Samantha described a "havrah" as a meeting of Jewish people
who often work on helping projects.
Eight-year-old Mary Rothrock was another kid who had made
a homemade blanket for a kid in the hospital.
Mary
Rothrock |
But, maybe 9-year-old Jake Schwartz made the most unusual
blanket-making experience at home. He's making his blanket
by knitting it.
"It's just a small blanket since I'm just starting to learn
how to knit," he said.
At school this year, three 3rd grade classes produced about
35 blankets in the Project Linus program. That's up from
the 18 blankets that last year's third graders completed.
Jake
Schwartz |
One of the reasons for the increased output is that last
year's kids worked in 4-person teams for each blanket. This
year, the kids worked in 2-person teams.
One of the aspects of the Linus program at Shenandoah Valley
is that kids have to raise money by doing chores to pay
for the "fleeces" they use to make the blankets.
(If you'd like to know more about Project Linus, you
can visit the group's local website at www.stlprojectlinus.org.
Or you can call two local representatives, Kathy Niesen
at (636) 230-9486 or Barbara Glover at (636) 227-6829)
(Young Saint Louis.com did an earlier story
about Project Linus. To read that, click on Past
Stories on the top of the Home Page and then go
to March, 2001.)
Mary Rothrock said she got 50 cents for each of the chores
she did around the house. That included helping with the
dishwasher and folding clothes after they were washed.
Mary said it took her about a week to raise the $8 for
the blanket.
For Samantha, her chores included babysitting his 3-year-old
brother, Jacob, while her parents were sleeping.
For Braiden, babysitting included two younger siblings.
She has a 5-year-old sister and a baby brother, born earlier
this year. "My highest pay was $2 for playing with my sister
for about an hour," she said.
Jake said among his chores included helping his dad clean
the backyard.
Teacher
Jill Strong helps a student
The blankets made at Shenandoah Valley were partially completed,
with patterns already on the unfinished fleeces. The kids
then tied border strips on the fringe to finish the blankets.
Among the almost 30 blankets Braiden and her mother made
at home, many needed only border finishing. "But, I made
two of them that needed to have pieces sewn together on
the sewing machine," she said.
She said she'd like to do more at-home projects like that.
"But, my mother's too busy with my new brother to supervise
me on the sewing machine. She wants to make sure I don't
sew my fingers when I'm working," she said.
