 | Student Ralph Toribio and Project Linus volunteer Carolyn Perkins work together to make a blanket for ill children.
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Freshmen create blankets to cuddle children at HasbroLast month, while many students worked on papers for their classes, a group of URI freshmen were working on their “blankies.” As part of their URI 101 class community service project, the students selected fabric, designed patterns, and created blankets for ill children in need of the cuddly wrap’s magical power and comfort.
The students’ creations were for Project Linus, a non-profit organization that donates new, handmade, washable blankets and afghans to ailing children.
Because most of the students in her two URI 101 class sections said they are interested in the textiles industry, College of Human Science and Services adjunct faculty member Mary Beth Gale thought the blanket project would tie things together for them.
Though the majority of the students involved in the project are majoring in textile-related fields, for many of them this marked their first hands-on experience with fabric selection, preparation and sewing by hand or machine.
Lauren Behie, a textile marketing design major from Wakefield, said, “It was difficult to do some of the sewing techniques, but it made me feel good to know we did a good deed for someone in need.”
Ralph Toribio of Providence expressed similar sentiments. “It was a new experience for me,” he said. “I thought it was going to be impossible to make a quilt, but at the end we did it.”
Carolyn Perkins, a Project Linus volunteer, walked the group of students through the process of quilt creating. Perkins’ involvement began when her own child received a Project Linus blanket at Hasbro Children’s Hospital. After seeing how important the blanket became, Perkins began to make blankets for the project on her own.
Though this was the first time Perkins had ever led a group of students in blanket making, she has past experience as a home economics teacher. Together, she and the students turned out seven blankets for Hasbro Children’s Hospital.
Project Linus has been donating handmade security blankets to children since 1995, and has delivered more than 673,000 of them around the world. The project donates blankets to any child who is seriously ill or traumatized - in other words, any child in need of a sense of warmth and comfort. The project’s motto says it best: “A Project Linus blanket is like a big hug when you most need one.”
By Cate Monahan
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