2☘25 March Newsletter

Wow! February may have been a short month, but it was certainly a busy one! We received an incredible 314 blankets this month, which might just be a chapter record! Be sure to check out photos of some of the donations at the end of the blog - they're truly amazing. A huge thank you to all the dedicated blanketeers who continue to support us. In this month's newsletter, we have both some bad news and some good news. Keep reading to see what's happening!

See how many shamrocks can you spot throughout the newsletter... (the answer is at the end!) 🌈☘

Karen & Millie

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First the bad news - Joann's Stores Closing 😢

If you haven't heard yet, Joann's has been sold to a liquidator, and all stores will be closing. This is heartbreaking news for our chapter and all Project Linus chapters, as they've been our main source for fleece fabric for our blankets. Our chapter has been fortunate to receive generous donations that have allowed us to purchase fleece for our blanket days and supply it to our dedicated blanketeers.

We're doing everything we can to purchase as much fleece as possible before the stores close. In the meantime, we're also exploring other sources for fleece fabric, and Project Linus headquarters is reaching out to other craft and fabric chains like Hobby Lobby and Michaels. If you have any ideas, suggestions, or sources, please let us know! And if you're not spending all your extra money on eggs (insert sarcasm!), consider buying some fleece or donating to our chapter.

Due to the closures, the Joann's stores in Salt Lake City and Taylorsville will no longer be drop-off locations for blanket donations. If you need to arrange a drop-off or pick-up, please contact Karen Heaton or Millie Martensen or email slcprojectlinus@gmail.com. As we secure new drop off locations, we will notify everyone and post the details on our blog.

If you have any question or suggestions, feel free to reach out!

Now the Good News - New Partnership for Blanket Donations

In February, we were contacted by the new Volunteer Services Coordinator at Common Spirit (Holy Cross) Hospitals to begin a collaboration with our chapter. She previously worked as the coordinator at one of the Intermountain Health hospitals, where she worked with us to provide donations to the NICU. Prior to her recent contact with us, Sherry, one of our blanketeers, had reached out to the hospital in West Jordan to arrange donations of baby blankets. We are now excited to extend our support to all ages of children at the five Common Spirit Hospitals: West Valley, West Jordan, Lehi, South Davis and Salt Lake. This partnership will allow us to serve even more children in our community.

With the addition of these hospitals, we remain committed to continuing our deliveries to our other partners. We are confident that we can handle the increased number of deliveries and are well on our way to reaching our goal of distributing 3,000 blankets in 2☘25!

Community Service Day

On February 22, the Crescent Ridge Stake of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints hosted a wonderful day of service, with the Primary children taking the lead in choosing which charities to support. After reviewing several organizations, the children voted to select the final charities they would focus on for the event. The day was open to participants of all ages, and it was truly an inspiring experience. From young children to grandparents, everyone came together to make no-sew fleece blankets.

Thanks to their hard work and generosity they donated 50 blankets to our chapter! We are incredibly grateful for the community's support of our project!

☘Blanket Making Days☘

We are always excited to welcome new blanketeers and visitors to our blanket days! Recently, employees from local Coach stores joined us to learn how to make no-sew fleece blankets. It was a fun team-building activity for them, and they were able to create several blankets for our chapter. We hope they'll join us again in the future!

If you or anyone you know is considering a service project, attending our blanket days is a great way to get hands-on "training" in making no-sew fringe fleece blankets. Our experienced blanketeers are happy to share all the tips and tricks we've picked up over the years. We highly encourage this because we often receive fringed blankets that don't meet our quality standards - such as uneven cuts, jagged edges, oversized holes, or untrimmed selvages. When this happens, we take the time to recut and re-fringe the blankets to ensure they're an acceptable gift for a child. Click on the "Blanket Making Days" tab to find out more information on dates and locations. ☘