Project Linus arrives in Fruitland

By Ronald Bond - Argus Observer
Saturday, September 1, 2007 10:40 PM PDT

Phyllis Voigt, Fruitland, works on a quilt for Project Linus, a nationwide program that makes blankets for youth in need.

Fruitland - Project Linus has found its way to Fruitland.

The program — a nationwide agenda named after the famous “Peanuts” character — provides blankets for children in need, whether they are in the hospital for a serious illness, facing major trauma or another major life issue.

Project Linus was created in the mid-1990s, and currently has more than 400 chapters in all 50 states.

This summer Ginger Strawn helped bring the unique program to Fruitland.

“Phyllis (Voigt) has been sewing for Linus for a long time and just thought it would be nice if we had one in Fruitland,” Strawn said. “Sissy Reeves went down and talked to Sybil (Mabbs) at the Charm Shack (Gift Boutique in Fruitland) and she said she would be honored to have us sew there.”

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So a small group of area residents — including Strawn and Voigt — decided to meet once a month in the basement of the old school building in Fruitland to put together blankets and quilts that will go to children in need.

Mabbs said she donated more than 15 yards of material to the group who call themselves the “Happy Bee Quilters” and a party of about half a dozen ladies began to sew away.

“I think every quilt shop should take part in something like this because what is does is providing blankets for the less fortunate,” Mabbs said. “I have a terminally ill great-granddaughter, so that is a big motivator for me.”

Mabbs said she will definitely donate more material to the group as it’s needed.

“I think it’s a wonderful project,” Voigt, a Fruitland resident, said. “It’s doing a lot of little kids (good), giving them a lot of comfort I think. Any little kid needs a comforting blanket.”

Most of the quilts and blankets put together by the “Happy Bee Quilters” go to the Boise/Southwest Idaho chapter of Project Linus.

The Boise/Southwest Idaho Project Linus chapter, which takes in blankets from across the Treasure Valley and outlying areas, has delivered more than 12,000 blankets since 1998, putting out between 2,000 and 2,500 a year.

The blankets received by the Boise/Southwest Idaho chapter go to area hospitals as well as camps for children with cancer, diabetes, bereavement camps and camps for children in foster care.

“We get stories back all the time from nurses and parents about how much that blanket means to the kids,” Donna Aten, Boise/Southwest Idaho Project Linus chapter coordinator, said. “It’s something that they can snuggle with that just makes them feel loved when they’re in such a different environment. I think it’s very important. I really do. I just think any way you can comfort a child in distress is very important. If a child is sick, (they need) something that will help them feel better, and if you feel better you’re going to get better.”

While the “Happy Bee Quilters” have not put out a large number of blankets and quilts — Voigt said they have created four or five in the brief couple of months they’ve been together — Strawn said what matters is helping out the youth in need.

However, Strawn said the group is not just limited to those who have been showing up.

“If people have some material they want to donate, we won’t turn them down, (or) time they want to donate,” she said. “Just come and have fun. As you can see, we don’t just sit here and sew. We talk too. If they want to, (anyone can) just come and have a good time and do a good project while your having a good time.”

The Project Linus program can traces its roots to a Parade Magazine article in the mid-1990s.

The article, titled “Joy to the World,” in the Dec. 24, 1995 issue, described the trials of a young girl going through chemotherapy. In the article, the young girl talked about how her “security blanket” helped her move through the chemotherapy process.

After reading the article, Karen Loucks began providing homemade “security blankets” to Rocky Mountain Children’s Cancer Center in Denver.

Since then, the program has evolved into a all-volunteer, non-profit organization — now based in Bloomington, Ill. — and has donated more than two million blankets.

For more information about Project Linus, including how you can get involved or make a donation, visit the national Web site at www.projectlinus.org.

For information on the Boise/Southwest Idaho chapter, visit www.LinusIdaho.org or call Donna Aten at (208) 250-2119.

For information about the “Happy Bee Quilters,” which meet the fourth Thursday of each month at 1 p.m., call Ginger Strawn at (208) 707-4431.