Third Quarter Newsletter 2015
CHAPTER COORDINATOR’S MESSAGE
As I sit here watching the leaves fall and see how dark it is getting when I get up in the morning I realize autumn is here. Soon we will all be rushing around getting ready for the holidays so I want to take this opportunity to wish each of you the best of the season. You bless me constantly with the wonderful contributions you make to Project Linus. It is because of you we are able to provide so many children with blanket hugs. As your calendar fills up I hope you will still find time to knit, crochet, quilt, or whatever your sewing choice might be because we will need more and more blankets as the days turn colder. In this newsletter you will find important information about "Books For Good" and blanket measurement, so please read on.
BOOKS FOR GOOD
"Books for Good" is an all-volunteer, nonprofit organization providing book-selling services to help other charities. They are located at 50 Heritage Park Drive in Fletcher (behind the Subway at the intersection of Butler Bridge Road and Highway 25). Regular store hours are Monday through Friday from 12-5 and Saturday from 10-2. Your generosity in donating your good condition used books benefited Project Linus to the tune of $743.20 in the past year. You have dropped off your books, they have been sold and a percentage comes back to Project Linus. PLEASE NOTE, THEY HAVE BEEN OVERWHELMED WITH BOOK DONATIONS THAT THEY HAVE RECEIVED FROM NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATIONS AND THEREFORE ARE NO LONGER ACCEPTING BOOKS. Please save your books until they notify us when they will be able to take more, hopefully after the first of the year. In order to make more room on their shelves they are having a huge holiday sale Friday and Saturday, November 27th and 28th. Hours 10 am until 5 pm. The prices are always low, but at sale prices you have the chance to choose from over 50,000 books, CDs, and DVDs for your holiday gift list.
Friendship is like a book. It takes few seconds to burn, but it takes years to write!
BLANKET MEASUREMENTS
We deliver blankets to children of all ages, therefore our blankets can be many sizes. We ask that you stay
close to our requested sizes which are small 35" x 45" and up, medium 40" x 50" and up, large 45" x 60" and up. If you chose to work with fleece which comes in 60" widths, it can't be cut in half as it makes a finished blanket that isn't a size that we can give out. A yard and a half of the fleece makes a perfect size medium blanket. We must also be very careful about the odors that might be in our blankets. There are times when we are working with a child who is in a compromised health situation and a blanket with an odor could cause harm. Therefore, no perfume (fabric softeners, smoke odors and etc.), and especially avoid animal hair.
CAMP CORRAL
On August 8 my husband Gene and I drove to Camp Weaver in Greensboro where the Golden Corral Restaurant Corporation sponsored their Camp Corral in our area. These camps are held around the country for children aged 8-15 who have either lost a parent or have had a wounded parent return home from service in our armed forces. This is the 3rd year our Chapter has been asked to provide blankets to the campers and look upon this request for us to participate as an honor. However, the real success of our Chapter's participation in these camps is only possible because of you "blanketeers" who have so unselfishly donated your time and resources to provide the "hugs" given to each child. Below is a picture of just a few of the many blankets we donated to the cause and transported to Greensboro. We passed out 166 of your blankets.
I wish you could have seen the reaction on the kids' faces as they came through the line and were told they could select any blanket to use at the camp and at the end of the week it was theirs to keep and take home with them. Below is a picture of Gene and I on either end and in the middle is Slyvvia Rowland, National President of the Amvets National Ladies Auxiliarywho loved what we were doing.
In a letter we received from one of the Mom's she wrote " her children had received blankets from the camp and they absolutely treasure them. My husband is a wounded warrior, hurt back in May 2002, and he is 100% permanently and totally disabled now, so I am his full time care giver. I have three children that keep me busy but I want something I can do to give back. I am not great at sewing or knitting but I am a fast learner....... "
FOURTH QUARTER DONATIONS
If you wish for your December donation to be included on the fourth quarter in-kind-tax receipt it will be necessary for us to have the blanket before our December work session, which is on the 2nd. If you do not need a tax receipt and receive this newsletter electronically let us know so that we can save the postage and not mail it out. If you wish to receive the newsletter by email please notify Helen McConnell at jhmcconnell@bellsouth.net.
National web site: www.projectlinus.org
Local web site; www.projectlinusofwnc.org
Old friends are gold! New friends are diamond! If you get a diamond, don't forget the gold! Because to hold a diamond, you always need a base of gold.
BLANKET DROP OFF SITES
Asheville:
A.C. Moore Craft Store
River Ridge Shopping Center
Hendersonville:
Grace Lutheran Church
1245 Sixth Avenue, West
Joann Fabrics of Hendersonville
Blue Ridge Mall
1800 Four Seasons Blvd. (leave at the cutting counter)
Mars Hill:
Make It With Yarn
635-6 Carl Eller Road
Third QUARTER STATISTICS
In Out
July 270 301
August 399 492
September 255 308
3rd Quarter Totals: 924 1101
With these latest numbers. Our local chapter has now distributed 55,289 blankets!
Number of knitted dolls donated and distributed
this quarter: 193
Weighted blankets donated to date: 745
CONTACTS:
Chapter Coordinator
Ellen Knoefel 828-645-8800
Buncombe County Contact
Sharon Waltman 828-645-7190
Cherokee, Clay, and Graham County Contact
Pat Carman 828-321-4172
Haywood County Contact
Mariam Howell 828-456-5154
Henderson County Contact
Helen McConnell 828-890-3067
Jackson and Macon County Contact
Ellen Knoefel 828-645-8800
Madison County Contact
Sandy Burns 828-734-1261
Mitchell County Contact
BettyAltman 828-765-2526
Transylvania County Contact
Pat Crawford 828-883-8746
Yancey County Contact
Asta Jeffcoat 828-682-4373