Fourth Quarter Newsletter, December 2018

CHAPTER COORDINATOR’S MESSAGE

It is the beginning of a new year and with that comes the hope and prayers that 2019 will be a healthy time for all and that peace will come to our Country and the World. Western North Carolina Project Linus has just completed the most amazing year to date. With the help from each of you we gave out 5,253 blankets, the most of any year. The requests will continue to come in and I know that I can count on you to keep up your wonderful donations so that we will not have to disappoint any facility or child. If you are wondering how we keep up with all these numbers and there are lots, the thanks goes to Susan Garwood who does an amazing job of keeping everything straight. Thank you, Susan.

As you read this newsletter you will see that you will have several opportunities to participate in extra activities. Grab your calendar and mark down the very special dates for our Make a Blanket Day and our annual Appreciation Tea.

FABRIC CHOICES

You are aware of the blanket instructions as to the need for the blankets to be new, washable, and handmade, I always add child friendly and now I am adding another request. Please refrain from using seasonal patterns, and this is for several reasons. A holiday will only last for one day and we want this blanket that is given to a child to last as long as they feel a need for that “hug.” In addition, I now have in inventory Halloween and Christmas blankets that didn’t make into our inventory in time to be given out this year and will now have to be stored for another year. Thanks for your understanding.

BUNCOMBE COUNTY MABD

We have scheduled the Buncombe County Make a Blanket Day for Saturday March 9th. Once again, this year it will be held at Eliada Home located at 2 Compton Road from 10:00 until 2:00. We say Buncombe County, but we hope that each of you will attend as it isn’t limited to one county. Here is your opportunity to join together to work in an assembly line to sew blankets. All supplies will be provided along with lots of nibbles. This is the only notification that you will received before March 9th so don’t miss this fun day.

VOLUNTEER APPRECIATION TEA

The date has been set for our annual tea it will be on Wednesday April 24 at the Lutheran Church of the Nativity from 2:00 until 4:00. A formal invitation will be included in the next newsletter but that won’t be until early April, so I want you to be aware of the date so do mark it down. As in the past we do fill up quickly, so you will need to RSVP as soon as the invite arrives. We would love to have you join in the craft sale by submitting an item or two that you have made. Money raised from this sale helps with our yearly expenses.

PROJECT LINUS SHIRTS

T- shirts are coming soon, but you must order them yourselves. When the leadership of Project Linus changed several years ago, and our National Office moved to Kansas the T shirt inventory was depleted from the store. Arrangements have been made with a company that will work with us, but you will order directly from them and they will ship to you. You will have only two weeks to order and this opportunity will take place four times a year. This first time will be in January and at this time I don’t have the actual date. If you are on our email list, I will have Helen and Ennis send out the details when I receive them. There will be one gray shirt with ¾ navy sleeves, 2 T-shirts, gray or blue and 2 sweatshirts gray or blue. If you want to be added to our email list send a memo to Helen McConnell at jhmcconnell@bellsouth.net. You can also continue to check out the National website at projectlinus.org where the information will be posted. If you don’t want to order on line you can contact me at 828-645-8800 and we will work it out.

BLANKET BEACON

Several times a year our national office sends out a newsletter on line. I suggest that you go

to projectlinus.org and sign up to receive the newsy Blanket Beacon.

JUNIOR LEAGUE OF ASHEVILLE

The Junior League is holding a volunteer expo at the Crowne Plaza expo Center on February 9th. Project Linus will participate and have a booth. If you would like to learn about other volunteer opportunities or come visit the PL table, I would love to see you.

BLANKET DROP-OFF SITES

Asheville:

A.C. Moore Craft Store

River Ridge Shopping Center

Weaverville:

5 Little Monkeys Quilt and Sew

32 North Main Street

Hendersonville:

Grace Lutheran Church

1245 Sixth Avenue West

We are choosing to remove the Joanne’s dropoff site in Hendersonville from our list. I hope this won’t cause you any inconvenience.

FOURTH QUARTER STATISTICS

In Out

October 351 434

November 469 480

December 328 440

Fourth Quarter Totals 1,148 1,354

With these latest numbers our chapter has now distributed 70,600 blankets!

Number of knitted dolls and small animals donated and distributed this quarter: 197

Weighted blankets donated to date: 1,114

“How far you go in life depends on you being tender with the young, compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving and tolerant of the weak and strong. Because someday you will have been all of these.”

George Washington Carver

CONTACTS

Chapter Coordinator

Ellen Knoefel 828-645-8800

Buncombe County

Ennis Julian 702-499-3567

Cherokee, Clay and Graham Counties

Ellen Knoefel 828-645-8800

Haywood County

Mariam Howell 828-456-5154

Henderson County

Helen McConnell 828-890-3067

Jackson and Macon Counties

Ellen Knoefel 828-645-8800

Madison County

Ellen Knoefel 828-645-8800

Mitchell County

Janet Jackson 661-319-8286

Transylvania County

Pat Crawford 828-883-8746

Yancy County

Asta Jeffcoat 828-682-4373