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Attn: Deb Miller, 365 Dean Dr., Ten Mile, TN 37880

Phone: 865 719-2862 Email: Deb@ProjectLinusEastTN.org

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ProjectLinusEastTN/ Website: www.projectlinuseasttn.org

The best kind of sleep under

heaven above, is under a blanket

handmade with love.

April 2005

March April 2018

Coordinator’s Corner: A huge shout out this month to Patti Stewart. Patti redid over 250 fleece blankets that were turned in and not useable. Most of these did not have the selvage cut off before they were fringed or they were tied SO tight, they looked like a bowl. Patti and her handy serger did a great job to turn these into nice quality Project Linus blankets!!!!! We are happy to report volunteer John Feltner is doing well and recovering from surgery. I’m sure he’s already working/playing with that new long arm quilting machine!!! A big shout out to all of you that answered the call for the teen blankets needed to comfort the students at Marshall County High School in Kentucky. We shipped 53 blankets to help meet their need of 1300 blankets. Special thanks to Myra Perry for proofing the national newsletter – The Blanket Beacon. I am now the editor. If you haven’t, I encourage you to sign-up for it at www.projectlinus.org. It’s only available via email. The Fabric Giveaway Days were a huge success. I could feel Helen smiling down from heaven during the two days. She would have been so happy to see her fabric go to so many and know of all the Project Linus blankets that will be made and other charitable causes it was supporting. Be sure to check inside this newsletter for more details about the March 20th Sewing Day and 2018 East TN Fiber Yard Sale on April 21st. Blessings,

Deb Miller

Important Dates March 10th Sewing Day – Atomic Fibers in Oak Ridge (see inside for details) April 21st - 2018 East TN Fiber Yard Sale in Lenoir City (see inside for details) April 21st - TAPS Blankets Due to Drop-off Locations (see inside for details)

Mara and Tom Eckhardt for help with

deliveries/pick-ups, mailings of blankets,

supplies and MANY other things!

Tom Eckhardt for building and maintaining

our website!

Doris Cole for donating postage and mailing the

newsletter, and much much more.

Karen Eidson for help sewing labels and all the

special extras she does for our group.

Judy Dowker and Missy Dowker Green for

help fixing blankets, sewing labels and much

more.

Denette Flynn, Debbie Petree, Chris

Tiller/ETHRA, Tamsin Miller, and Jamie

Stringer for help with deliveries/pickups.

The staff at the TN Career Center in Lenoir

City

Patti Stewart for help with deliveries, shopping,

cutting fabric and much more!

Annhara Henderson for help with sewing

labels, mailing labels, PL correspondence,

JoAnne’s Discount cards, fixing blankets,

deliveries, speaking engagements and more.

My mom Irene Hawker for delivery and pick-up

of blankets in Cumberland County.

Bev Abele for ongoing volunteer and fundraising

efforts including serving as a drop-off site.

Karen and John Feltner for help finishing and

fixing blankets, assisting at meetings, hosting

sewing days, delivering blankets and more.

Sandy Rees for all her extra help.

Teresa Chasteen and WIN for paying for the

PL storage unit each month

Financial Donations:

Kroger Community Fund

Gail Sharp

Estate of Helen Forbes

Myra Perry donation to ship blankets to KY

Dianna Kring donation to ship blankets to KY

Donations: (January/February)

Dianna Kring: 5 blankets

Tanya Weeks: 6 blankets

St. Mary’s School, Oak Ridge, Mrs. Doogan’s 3rd

Grade Class: 13 blankets

Marcia Upchurch: 1 blanket

Sherry Ketterer: 4 blankets

Flora Loobey: 14 blankets

Ellen Wormsley: 412 blankets

Barbara Roberts: 18 blankets

Judy Montgomery: 1 blanket

Sandra Rea: 6 blankets

Michael and David Williamson: 9 blankets (Boy

Scouts)

Kappa Omega Sorority University of the South,

Sewanee, TN 26 blankets

Annonymous:

10 blankets (dropped at Twisted Sisters)

26 blankets

Dorcus Quilters: 13 blankets

Helen Forbes/Ila Mae Morton/Dianna Kring: 20

Blankets

Sharon Carey: 54 blankets

First United Methodist Church Knoxville: 3 blankets,

hats, sweaters, yarn, etc.

Dianna Kring: 5 blankets

Tracy Houser: 1 blanket

Jill McMaster: 1 blanket

Edna Davis: 10 blankets

Concord United Methodist Church/Pam Arnett: 1

Blanket

Hilari Frederick: 3 blankets

Janice Brandt: 1 blanket

If I missed thanking you for a donation, please accept

my apologies and let me know so I can recognize you

next time! Sometimes we get behind in picking up

and unpacking blankets – please don’t be offended;

just let me know and we will be sure to get your

items logged in and passed on to recipient

organizations.

- Deb

Your Donations of Blankets and Other Items Truly Make A Difference in the Lives of Area Children.

PLET has recently or will soon be delivering donated items to the following recipient

organizations: Ronald McDonald House: (Jan) 40 blankets and hats East TN Children’s Medical Center– Knoxville: (Jan) 60

blankets and hats UT Medical Center–Knoxville: (Feb) 70 blankets & hats Helen Ross McNabb: (Jan) 35 blankets & pillowcases Hope Resource Center: Children’s Center of the Cumberlands (Scott): Community Health of East TN (Campbell): 20 blankets Campbell County Children’s Center: 20 blankets Kids First Child Advocacy Center - 9th Judicial District

(Loudon/ Meigs/Morgan/Roane): Mission of Hope: Clinch Valley Childrens Center (Anderson Cty): Smoky Mountain Children’s Home – Sevierville: Smoky Mountain Family Matters – Sevierville: Roane Medical Ctr./Covenant: Avalon Center–Cumberland County: Cumberland Medical Ctr: CHILDHELP USA (East TN): 35 blankets and pillowcases Methodist Medical Center – Oak Ridge: 30 blankets Blount Memorial - Maryville: IVA’s Place: Susannah’s House – Knox County: Tenth Judicial District Childrens Advocacy Center - The

H.O.P.E. Center: Special Requests:

o Marshall County High School, KY: 53 blankets Special Thanks to Dianna Kring for finishing up some teen blankets and shipping directly to KY.

Exciting News from JOANN’s

Now Volunteers can take advantage of bulk purchasing discounts from JOANN’s for their Project Linus blanket supplies. First make an account with your email and a password (see below). You will see prices listed, these prices are the maximum you will be charged as the amount you order increases you will get a better price. If you have issues, there is a number on the site you can call for help. These prices are good on this site only and you have to buy in bulk to get the good prices. Creating an Account: The first thing you will do is go to the site http://plus.joann.com/ and click on set up an account. Click Organization, then I'm a consumer and continue. Type in your email address, it won't know your address the first time so click sign up. Click organization again and fill in your personal information, make sure you write down your password you chose so you don't forget. click continue, then fill in: · Business name: Project Linus · Business type: Nonprofit group · EIN: 84-1362696 · website URL: www.projectlinus.org · Business revenue: $100,000 -

$500,000 · Employees:<10 · You Do NOT qualify for tax exempt,

don't check · Email promotions (up to you on

whether you select) · Check I have read the terms and

conditions · Click create account, sign in and start

shopping Remember for these prices to be great you have to order in bulk and the first time or so you might want to look at the site, see what you think you might like, and then call them and have them walk you through the pricing. Stay tuned for more exciting announcements about the Project Linus and JOANN’s partnership.

Pictures of Blankets: Are you looking for blanket ideas

or just want to see what others are doing? Be sure to

check out the website and Facebook page for pictures of

recently donated blankets and blanket patterns.

Double-Layered Fleece Blankets: We have a VERY

limited need for these blankets. Please do not make these

without checking with Deb first. Fleece is expensive and

you can make twice the number of blankets making single

layered fleece blankets. There are some great ideas and

patterns on the website and by searching the internet

including:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U8_qRIu5Aq0&featu

re=youtu.be

Jo-Ann Fabric and Craft Stores Offers Non-Profit Discount Card to PL Volunteers Project Linus blanketeers are eligible for 10% discount at Jo-Ann Fabric and Craft Stores when making Project Linus blankets! Following are the enrollment details. Remember, you must also have a Project Linus Membership Card (see below). If you already have the JoAnn’s discount card, you should not have to get a new one unless it has expired. 1. Visit the web page to sign up: http://www.joann.com/discountcardform/ 2. Enter "Project Linus" in the Organization Name box 4. Enter your information (Name, Address, Email...) and follow the online directions 5. Your Non-Profit Discount Card will arrive in the mail within 3-4 weeks 6. Take your Non-Profit Discount Card, Photo ID and Project Linus Membership Card to your nearest Jo-Ann Store for validation 7. Save 10% on every* purchase! *exclusions apply.

MOST Jo-Ann’s cards EXPIRE in August. You must go back on the Jo-Ann’s site and order a new card. You do NOT need a new Project Linus membership card.

Questions or needs for assistance should be directed to the store manager.

*Note: Each Jo-Ann’s store seems to administer the 10% a little differently. You “might” get it off some sale items but “maybe” not. They “might” be picky about whether your purchase is for Project Linus or “maybe not”.

You will just need to be happy with any discount they give you. 😊

PL Membership ID Card: If you need a Project Linus Membership Card, send Deb Miller an email or note, requesting one. Please include your name and address in the request. You do NOT NEED to renew these cards.

IF you have a current PL Membership ID Card, PLEASE use a black Sharpie or other pen and scratch out the EIN # on it. It has caused some confusion at some of the JoAnn’s stores. You should NOT get a tax exemption on your purchase.

As of mid-February, we have donated 363 blankets. We are about 12.5% of the way through the year and we have achieved 15.6% of our goal! That’s great news. Let’s keep up the great work in helping children in traumatic situations!

2018 Goal: 2,332 Blankets for a total of 32,500 since April 2003

Website, Facebook and Newsletter

You can now access lots of information on the website – links to patterns, drop off locations,

newsletters, pictures, and more. Check it out at www.projectlinuseasttn.org .

It is very easy to go to the website to get your newsletter each month. Just go to the site, click on

the newsletter link (left column and center of page) and download the newsletter.

I am not going to email out the newsletter to the newsletter distribution list unless you can’t make

the link work. I will send you a reminder each month when the newsletter is loaded on the website. If

you can’t make it work, let me know and I’ll send you the newsletter via email.

For those of you that are getting the newsletter via the U.S. Mail, if you can access the newsletter

via the website and no longer need to have the newsletter mailed to you via the postal service, just let

me know.

Don’t forget to also sign-up on Facebook for more information. You can search for it under

Project Linus of East Tennessee or access it at the following link:

http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Project-Linus-of-East-Tennessee/159217337546849

Blanket Beacon: This is the national Project Linus quarterly newsletter. If you have not signed up to

receive it, please go to www.projectlinus.org. It is ONLY available by email. It has some great

information. I encourage you to sign-up for it.

PROJECT LINUS…………DID YOU KNOW? (2018)

Here are some interesting facts and figures about Project Linus: Karen Loucks started Project Linus on December 24, 1995. The East Tennessee Chapter

began in April 2003. There was a Knoxville Area Chapter prior to that. Project Linus nationally has been alive for 7,672 days as of January 1, 2018. Project Linus National has had nonprofit status since May 12, 1997.

Project Linus nationally has officially collected over 6,673,024 blankets as of January 1, 2018. If 60% of them are fabric, that translates into over 12,011,443 yards of fabric. If 40% are afghans, that is over 21,353,676 skeins of yarn.

If each blanket is an average of 60” long, and we laid them end to end, they would stretch 33,365,120 feet or 6,319 miles. That is as tall as 1,151 Mt. Everest, or 18,636 One World Trade Centers or 23,010 Empire State Buildings or as long as 92,680 football fields!

Assuming each delivered blanket so far had a label, the cost for labels would be

$200,191.

• As of January 1, 2018, Project Linus has about 295 chapters in the United

States. We have 295 wonderful, compassionate coordinators. If each of our 295 wonderful compassionate coordinators donates an average of 20 hours

per week to their chapter, that would mean about 1,040 hours per year each. And that’s just coordinators! Think about all of the volunteer time that is donated each year.

TAPS Blankets

Our chapter will once again be providing blankets to the TAPS Memorial Day Good Grief Camp. This is one of the two national efforts we provide blankets for in order to support our military families of fallen heroes. The other is Snowball Express (www.snowballexpress.org ). TAPS is now expanding their efforts to provide support to children and families of Military personnel and Veterans that commit suicide. More info about TAPS is available at www.TAPS.org including:

TAPS Good Grief Camp for children and teens provides a safe and supportive atmosphere to conduct activities and opportunities to learn coping skills, establish and identify support systems and create awareness that they are not alone in the grief of their loved one. Children and teens meet others of their own age group to share and learn, together.

TAPS blankets will be due April 21st. Fleece blankets with crocheted edges or other finishes (plz no double layered blankets), light weight quilts, and crocheted/knitted blankets all work fine. These children love the patriotic blankets (plz no flags that might remind a child of the flag on a casket), camouflage blankets (including pink, gray and orange ones), blankets depicting branches of the military (Army and Marines are most popular) and other children’s blankets. We do not need baby/small blankets for this effort. Blankets should be approximately 45 x 45 (1 ½ yards of fleece with the selvage edges cut off makes a nice size blanket) and larger up to full size adult blankets.

Blankets are due to drop off locations on April 21st but you can turn them in at any time and we will hold them for mailing in May 2018.

Help Project Linus of East TN by shopping at Kroger. For more information and to sign-up go to: http://www.projectlinuseasttn.org/home/kroger This does NOT cost you anything, you still get your Kroger Rewards Points AND you get to help PL of East TN, too! If you THINK you’ve signed up, please check the bottom of your Kroger receipt. If it doesn’t say Project Linus of East TN, please sign up again or ask for assistance at the Kroger Customer Service desk.

Project Linus of East TN Blanket Making Sewing Day

(Plz RSVP to Deb if attending - see below) Hosted by Atomic Fibers

103 W. Tennessee Avenue Oak Ridge, TN

Saturday, March 10th

10 AM to 3 PM

Atomic Fibers has graciously agreed to host a Sewing Day on March 10th in their new expanded space at their Oak Ridge shop. We will have plenty of room to spread out, sew blankets, tie quilts, label blankets, and more. We will have several activities planned including info about Project Linus, example blankets that work well for Project Linus, the opportunity to talk to current volunteers and get all of your questions answered, time to work on your projects and more. You may bring your sewing machines or bring your knitting/crocheting along. We will have a few machines available and some fabric if you don’t have a project to work on. Also a great day to drop off your finished quilts or blankets or donated fabric and yarn. Drinks and ice will be provided. Feel free to bring your own lunch. There are plenty of restaurants nearby if you want to run out and get something. Hope to see you there! Please RSVP to Deb Miller with questions Deb@ProjectLinusEastTN.org or 865 719-2862 .

What are Blanket Cards? A blanket card is a small business size card that you can attach to blankets that you make with a message to the child receiving the blanket. You can simply put your first name or group name on the card or, if you want, you can flip it over and add a message. Please do NOT put your last name. This is to protect you.

These cards are designed to help the children we serve understand there is a human being on the other end of the blanket that made it for them. If a thank you note is sent that identifies who made the blanket, we will include that information when we put the thank you note in the newsletter and on the website.

If you want to include blanket cards with your blankets (not required), just send me an email or leave a message. Include the # of cards you want (approximately enough for a year). Then when you make a blanket, complete the card and attach it before donating it to Project Linus. Cards can be attached by punching a hole in them or making a hole with a darning needle then pass a piece of yarn through the card and the blanket and tie it to the blanket. You can also safety pin them on to a blanket. Then, fold the blanket with the card to the inside. PLEASE NO STRAIGHT PINS.

Remember to put your blankets inside a bag (more than one blanket in a bag is fine), put your name in the bag and drop your blankets at a drop off location. If you have questions, just let Deb know.

Blanket Stats/Donations to Children: Nationally since December 1995:

6,789,789

Thinking of You

To those of you that have lost loved ones recently,

our sympathies are with you.

To those of you that are ill, we hope you are feeling better soon.

MORE Project Linus THANK YOU’s: Lynne Attaway: 10 blankets John and Karen Feltner: 7 blankets (including one

from our workday) Christian Lutheran Women Fairfield Glade: 3

Blankets Chris Parker: 1 blanket Kathy Minter: 8 blankets Sandy Rea: 10 blankets Irene Hawker: 1 blanket Kathi Vanhouton: 7 blankets Helen Forbes/Ila Mae Morton: 1 blanket Barb Knight: 3 blankets Margaret Houk: 1 blanket Jackie Groat: 3 blankets Terry Doll: 3 blankets K. Hahn: 2 blankets Karen Feltner: 2 blankets Sandy Rea: 6 blankets Elizabeth Rea (KHQG): 3 blankets Barbara Roberts: 18 blankets Kim Mosier: 9 blankets Carolyn Lawson: 3 blankets Sherry Byrd: 1 blanket Alicia Mosier: 1 blanket Sandy Rees: 10 blankets Heather Pellman: 1 blanket Restorative Justice Girls/Farragut Christian

Church: 3 blankets Joyce Jarnigan: 3 blankets Flo Buffington: 7 blankets Methodist Churches (Oliver Springs & Jonesville

in Roane County): 21 blankets I am SO SORRY if I missed recognizing you for a blanket donation. It’s been a crazy month and one half with getting blankets sent to Marshall Co., KY, the huge wonderful fabric donation from Helen Forbes (including renting a storage unit, two blanket giveaway days, etc.), a big rush of blanket donations (YEAH!), the January Sewing Day and so much more. Please let me know and I’ll be sure to recognize you next time. Deb

Marshall County, KY: Project Linus of East

TN was honored to send 53 blankets to Kentucky in response to the horrible high school shooting there. Both locally and nationally, we received lots of wonderful thank you’s. We posted a couple videos on the Facebook Page. Here are a few of them: http://www.whas11.com/video/news/blanket-makers-bring-comfort-to-marshall-co-students/417-8005498 https://www.facebook.com/HoldenKurwickiWHAS/videos/2345713815454033/ From Lisa Stone (she lives here locally and is now interested in joining our chapter!) “I just wanted to say thank you for providing blankets and quilts. The high school in my hometown was given blankets/quilts. I would like to know how to volunteer for this project. The kids loved this show of love!!!”

Florida School Shootings: At the time of

printing, we have not heard about the Project Linus effort to respond to the shootings. It often takes some time to get these efforts planned. I’ll keep you posted.

2018 East TN Fiber Yard Sale and Project Linus of East TN Susan Holton visited with Deb during the Fabric Giveaway and offered Project Linus a table at the

2018 East TN Fiber Yarn Sale. She also has designated Project Linus of East TN as the charitable

cause. Any profits (after expenses) from the rental of tables and booths will come to Project Linus of

East TN. We are in need of volunteers for that day. If you can work 9:30 AM (set up) to 11:30 AM,

11:30 AM to 1:30 PM or 1:30 to 3:30 PM (tear down), please let me know. Volunteers will help set

up and tear down (minor and no heavy lifting), staff the table to talk to potential volunteers, sell fairy

tale books (profits to Project Linus of East TN), etc. Be sure to bring your handwork with you –

nothing attracts a crowd like someone working on a blanket.