Newsletter Q1 2025

FIRST QUARTER NEWSLETTER 2025

CHAPTER COORDINATOR’S MESSAGE

What a remarkable first quarter this had been with so much going on and so much to write about. Please fasten your seat belt and take a ride with me as I try to keep you well informed. First so many thanks are due to all those that have made the rummage sale held March 22 such a successful event. Hurricane Helen made it necessary to hold on to all the collected donations for extra months and I am sure that you are like me and so happy to finally have an empty garage. Romella Hart O’Keefe did a Yeomans job of spear heading the entire event she along with the wonderful congregants of First Congregational Church of Hendersonville, some very supportive husbands, and so many of you helped with the success. The money collected will allow us to continue with the growth of this chapter and the quest to give that blanket hug to so many.

HURRINCANE HELENE

 We have given out 1,996 blankets during the past six months to victims of the storm, some of these were from our inventory but most came from other chapters all over the country, many quilt guilds, churches, and individuals. During this time, I have had the wonderful opportunity to meet some amazing folks like Lauren from Big Stone Gap, VA right in the heart of Appalachian Country. She was raised to help others and my how she does it big time. She has made six trips to WNC, bringing supplies (heaters, humidifiers, generators, etc.) and rolling up her sleeves and doing whatever is necessary. She has introduced me to groups in Spruce Pine and Bakersville where I have taken blankets.

Alexis in Spruce Pine is a story all by itself, I have written about her before but for those that didn’t see that I am going to tell it again. When she was 12, she was bullied at school because she was Hispanic, beaten so badly that she ended up in Mission Hospital where her body shut down due to the trauma. Fast forward, she is now 25 and has suffered like so many difficulties due to the storm. When she and her family went to a distribution center to ask for help, they felt unwelcome and afraid. She told her mom that they were going to open their own HUB for their people, which is exactly what they did. I have visited them twice each time taking blankets.

JOANN’S

Each of us experienced a sad feeling when we realized that JoAnn’s was going to close all their stores. This affected each of us in different ways: the wonderful customer service that we received from the dedicated employees, the great sale prices that we were able to enjoy on so many items, the amazing selection of products and the convenience of having the stores nearby. Moreover, it was troubling to lose two main drop- off sites, one in Asheville and one in Hendersonville. We are busy making other arrangements and several will be discussed in this newsletter and as more are added we will keep you informed.

Currently, we have added Foam and Fabric in Fletcher, this store has given us discount cards that give 10% off when purchasing supplies for Project Linus. If you wish to have one of these cards, contact me (Ellen) either by email gknoefel@charter.net, cell 828-231-9490 or home 828-645-8800 I will see that you get one.   Also, we have added St Mark’s Lutheran Church in Asheville. The details for these two new sites plus the wonderful ones that we have been using are at the end of this newsletter. Look at the sites as some of the details have changed.

A SPECIAL THANK YOU NOTE

Last week my son, age 7, had to have surgery and went into surgery wearing his prized Clemson Tigers sweatshirt. The sweet nurse saw it and immediately said, “I know which blanket you need”. She brought out a cozy Clemson blanket that he loves. It’s become a comfort item for him since being home.

When he was born at Pardee in Hendersonville, the staff gave him a blanket with baseballs all over it. I remember saying that maybe he will be a baseball player! Fast forward to now, he plays for an 8-year travel ball team and lives and breathes baseball. His dream is to go to Clemson, so you never know.

Thank you for all the work that went into this blanket, our whole family loves it but especially it gave comfort to my boy when he was about to go through a scary thing.

COMMUNITY OUTREACH  

Pastor Sean Barrett, from The Lutheran Church of the Nativity received an email from the entry team of the NC State Fair asking him if he knew of anyone who might like to join in making items for cancer patients. I was delighted that he thought of us as I now can pass on the information to you. Last year the fair collected over 1000 caps to pass on to the Messino Cancer Center. This year they have added another category, Warm Covers for Cancer and will still do Caps for Cancer. If you have extra yarn and would like to put it to wonderful use, you will need to do the following to get all the details.

Go to wncagcenter.org

Visit site for NC Mountain State Fair

Click on Competition then go to General Exhibit and click on caps for cancer

I found this to be a very slow process and hope it was just my computer.

Emily Darnell is the team member in charge, and she said if this didn’t offer you enough information or if you had questions to reach out to her at emily.darnell@ncagr.gov

These will be displayed at the State Fair in September and then given to Messino Cancer Center to be distributed to westernmost counties of NC.

Romella and I had the pleasure of presenting a special quilt to a 16-year-old who was being adopted into her forever home after many years in foster care. It was a touching moment as this is something that we take for granted but there is never a guarantee that everyone can experience a “home”.

MAKE A BLANKET DAY

We aren’t a group that can sit still very long and are now busy planning our next event, which we hope each of you will attend. Mark your calendar for May 17th and read the flier at the end of this newsletter for details. You will need to make a reservation.

MONTHLY WORK SESSIONS  

We are still meeting on the first Wednesday of the month at the Lutheran Church of the Nativity in Arden. We are meeting from 1:00 until 3:00 Ish. We do not work on making blankets but process all those that have been received during the month, getting them ready for distribution. We would love to have you join us. During this time, we have donated articles for you to pick up. 

We now have a table with fleece and batting available for $3.00 apiece. The batting is precut, in pieces “60” x “90” and the fleece is 60” x 54”.  This is a huge savings from what you would purchase at a retail establishment. We will put the $$$ toward the purchase of more of these items.                                                                                                        

IT’S THE FRIENDS WE MEET ALONG THE WAY THAT MAKE US APPRECIATE THE JOURNEY

FIRST QUARTER STATISTICS 

                          In          Out 

January               347     427

February             461     384

March                 372     368

TOTAL:            1180    1179

With these numbers our chapter has now distributed 98,667 blankets

COUNTY CONTACTS Chapter Coordinator Ellen Knoefel 828-645-8800
Asheville:   Asheville Cotton Company 1378 Hendersonville Road STE B St Mark’s Lutheran Church 135 Merrimon Avenue Press call button and then 611 Fletcher: Foam and Fabric 3049 Hendersonville Road	Hendersonville:    Grace Lutheran Church     1245 Sixth Avenue West    Purple Bobbin        1680 Spartanburg Highway      Weaverville:    5 Little Monkeys Quilt and Sew    Entrance is now on Florida Ave.    Enter at Fresh Aire    Friday and Saturday 10:30-5:30

COUNTY 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  Vivian Andrews 224-558-4792 Jackson and Macon Counties Ellen Knoefel 828-645-8800

Madison County Nancy Fish 828-768-1344 McDowell County Mary Ledbetter maryledbetter@hotmail.com Mitchell County Janet Jackson 661-319-8286 Transylvania County Pat Crawford 828-883-8746 Yancy County

Vicki Fox     828-680-9167                                          

Attn: Ellen Knoefel 10 Highland Pointe Drive

                                  Weaverville, NC 28787

Phone  (home) 828-645-8800 

               (cell)  828-231-9490

Email:    gknoefel@charter.net 

Website: www.projectlinusofwnc.org 

                www.projectlinus.org 

Newsletter editor: Laura Moore

Project Linus

Make a Blanket Day

Saturday May 17 10:00 - 2:00

Lutheran Church of the Nativity

2425 Hendersonville Rd

Arden, NC

Join in the rewarding experience of making blankets for

children who need that “blanket hug”.

Fleece will be provided for those who like to work with that

medium.

Knitters and crocheters bring your own projects to work on.

Quilters bring your sewing machines; kits will be provided.

BRING YOUR OWN LUNCH

SNACKS AND DRINKS WILL BE PROVIDED

To make a reservation, call Ellen @ (828) 645-8800

or email gknoefel@charter.net

Let us know if you plan to bring a sewing machine.