Project Linus Brings Gift of Blankets to Westchester Children

By Alexandra Steinberg

The Westchester-Rockland chapter of Project Linus brought its mission of creating and donating blankets Tuesday to the Larchmont Public Library.

Created by “blanketeers,” Project Linus—which gets its name from the blanket-toting Linus van Pelt from the comic strip Peanuts—gives a security blanket to children who are ill, homeless or in foster care or who have been traumatized.

Doris-Patt Smith, one of the chapter's coordinators, explained why the blankets are donated.

“It’s scary to be a child and be in the hospital,” she said. “We give them a blanket that is theirs to keep. It provides security.”

The chapter has donated over 20,000 blankets and has donated them to over 30 different facilities in the Westchester and Rockland area, including the Montefiore New Rochelle, White Plains Hospital, Planned Parenthood of Westchester and various daycare centers.

Smith enjoys knitting, so she wanted a way to be able to knit and give back to her community at the same time.

“I love to knit, but I don’t have enough people to knit for,” she said. “I had heard about Project Linus in the Journal News, and I thought, ‘Well, that’s it. I could knit and do a good thing.’ ”

Smith has received letters from parents thanking the group for creating the blankets donated to their children.

“One mother told me that her now 5-year-old had received one of the blankets when he was 2,” she said. “He still sleeps with the blanket under his pillow every night.”

Roslyn Goldsmith of Larchmont has been knitting with the group since January and has donated three blankets so far.

“It’s nice to get together with a group of people and do something that really makes you feel good,” she said.

Project Linus started in 1995 after Karen Loucks read an article about a child with leukemia. The child was given a blanket that helped to ease the pain of intensive chemotherapy.

Since its creation, over 4 million blankets have been donated throughout the nation.

The group meets every from 10 a.m. to noon Tuesday through Dec. 17 at the Larchmont Public Library.

Even though the group gathers in the library to knit together, those who are not able to make it to the meetings can still donate finished blankets.

For more information about the Westchester-Rockland chapter, email Doris-Patt Smith at momdsmith1@yahoo.com.