Monday, February 13, 2017

Make a Blanket Day Reminder

Just 6 days until National Make a Blanket Day. This Saturday February the 28 th. We have 5 locations that will be joining us this year. Fox's in Meadville, St. Michael's Parish in Greenville, Kelly's Sewing Corner, Millcreek Sewing and Doug Yaple's in Erie. All of these wonderful participants are offering a drawing for blankets that are dropped off. Thank you to them and thank you to our Blanketeers. With everyones help, 3,500 children in need recieved a new handmade blanket last year.

Wednesday, January 25, 2017

February Newsletter

                                                           
February, 2017

Hello Blanketeers,    

I am again posting the origin of how National Make a Blanket Day began as it is taken from our National web site. I have been asked of its origin many times, so here it is:
HOW DID IT BEGIN?

National Make a Blanket Day began in 1999 after the terrible events that took place at Columbine High School. We found that suddenly we were in need of a very large number of blankets, and quickly. Our chapters came to the rescue, holding “blanket bees” all over the country and then sending those blankets to our local chapters in Denver. It was a huge success, and we learned that we had a national network of people who could and would help. It was decided that we would hold an annual Make A Blanket Day where each chapter could host activities in their area to promote Project Linus and to increase our inventory of warm cuddly blankets. Generally, we can attribute the collection of 75,000 to 100,000 blankets to National Make a Blanket Day!  WWW.projectlinus.org

NWPA National Make a Blanket Day- Saturday February 18th, Schedule is as follows, with all of these locations offering a drawing for blankets dropped off to be announced at the end of the day.    

Some Locations are having a “Sew In”,   Many sewing kits will be available.                                                
Kelly’s Sewing Corner- 3330 W.26th Street (Village West) Erie       Drop off                   10:00-3:00
Millcreek Sewing – 6044 Peach Street                                                 “Sew In”                    1:00-4:00
Super Stitch -55 West Main Street- North East   Cancelled due to the recent fire at this location                                                  
Fox’s Sew & Vac Sales and Service Downtown Mall – Meadville PA      Drop Off          10:00-3:00
St. Michael’s Church- 76 North High Street  Greenville, PA        “Sew In”                       11:00- 3:00
Doug Yaple’s Vacuum- 1815 E. 38th Street   Erie                            “Sew In”                      10:00-2:00

Zanadu Fabric, Yarn & Crafts -105 N. Fraley Street, Kane  PA (814) 561-1047 –           11:00-3:00
                                                                                                 “Sew In”                        Wednesday  May  10th

NWPA Project Linus is very grateful for the continued support of these Quilt Shops and Stores that make it possible for our organization to hold meetings, sew in days, and drop off locations, that allow us  to help so many children in need in our community. Thank you !!

**State Farm Insurance office at 113 W. 9th Street is sponsoring a promotion for NWPA Project Linus. Contact their office @ 1-814-452-4609 for details.

In the next month or so I will be in need of our wonderful blanketeers to again help with the cutting, tracing of the muslin squares as we prepare for our upcoming summer events. Several bolts of muslin need to be prepared for those events. As I have the muslin ready, I will let you ladies know.

Monthly meetings:
February 1st-        Millcreek Sewing Center               6044 Peach Street      1:00pm- 4:00pm ( regular meeting )
February 13th -   Yaple’s Vacuum & Sewing             801 W. 26th Street       9:00am-11:00am
February 16th-       Doug Yaple’s Vacuum                   1815 E. 38th Street       10:00am.-2:00pm

Odds and Ends:
New Drop off Location- Nature Fabrics-11530 Eureka Road , Edinboro, PA 16412
                                            1-814-897-9337- ( please call before dropping off blankets)
Spring “ Sew In Day” at the Hampton Inn date is pending at this time. Possible date- mid May.

Reminders: Please leave your contact information as you drop of your blankets, so that we can send out a note of appreciation.
Looking Ahead:

February 18th            -National Make a Blanket Day-
April 21st                     Art Day @ Our Lady of Peace School
April 22th         –        Appreciation Day- Yaple’s Vacuum & Sewing 10:00-1:30
July 26th-                     Senior Day at the Erie Zoo
August 8th-                  Erie Gives
August 18th-20th-      Celebrate Erie

 Please follow us on Facebook as well, for up to date and current events. You can find us at:
·       NWPAProjectLinus-    Like us -and that automatically will add you to our friend list.
·       www.nwpaprojectlinus.blogspot.com- is our web page

Warmly, 
JoAnn Burkhart
NWPA Project Linus – Coordinator
814-864-9389    814-392-5583 (c)

Nwpaprojectlinus@hotmail.com

Tuesday, December 27, 2016

January 2017 Newsletter

                                                           
January, 2017

Happy New Year Blanketeers,   
                                                                         
Last year a little over 3,000 blankets were lovingly handmade and donated to NWPA Project Linus, well Blanketeers, you out did yourselves this year with going over 3,500 blankets. The following agencies that benefited from your generosity were:
Office of Children and Youth Services, Community Shelter Services, Crime Victim Center, Safe Start, SafeNet, Women’s Care Centers, Nurse Family Partnership, Title 5, International Institute, Refuge Homeless Shelter, Sarah Reed Children’s Home, Children’s Advocacy Center and many many more…………………
Including our 3 local Hospitals, ( UPMC Hamot Hospital, St. Vincent Health Center and Millcreek Community Hospital) in their NICU, Maternity and Pediatric Units , that many children in need were comforted.

We can only hope that 2017 will be filled with Blanketeers once again being so caring and generous with your time, talent.            
                                                     
Listed below are our current Stores, Quilt Shoppes or Individuals that have graciously opened their doors to NWPA Project Linus to be a drop off location:

Erie County:
Joann Burkhart- NWPA Project Linus Coordinator -1446 Patterson Ave Erie, PA 16508  1-814-864-9389 1-814-392-5583  
Tena Pomeroy- ( Albion) 1-814-859-0033
Yaple’s – 801 W. 26th Street, Erie PA                                Marie Bissell - ( Lake City) 1-814-774-4884
Kelly’s Sewing Corner- 3330 W.26th Street (Village West)   Doug Yaple’s Vacuum 1815 E. 38th Street
Millcreek Sewing – 6044 Peach Street            Super Stitch -55 West Main Street- North East
Crawford County:
Fox’s Sew & Vac Sales and Service Downtown Mall – Meadville PA
Warren County:
Ronnieanne Walters – 1-814-723-5408     Super Stitch 2 -113 Market Street Warren PA
Mercer County:
Linda Hajtol – 1-724-588-3289        The Gallery of Fabric- 116 N. Pitt Street  Mercer  PA
St. Michael’s Church 76 North High Street Greenville PA
McKean County:
Zanadu Fabric, Yarn & Crafts -105 N. Fraley Street  Kane  PA
 For your convenience I hope this list will assist our Blanketeers as to where a lovingly handmade Project Linus blanket can be dropped off.

Monthly meetings:
January  -         Millcreek Sewing Center               6044 Peach Street   NO MEETING THIS MONTH   
January 9th -    Yaple’s Vacuum & Sewing            801 W. 26th Street       9:00a.m.-11:00a.m.
January 19th    Doug Yaple’s Vacuum                    1815 E. 38th Street      10:00-a.m.-2:00p.m.
National Make a Blanket Day-Saturday - February 18th 2017, here is a list of the Stores, Quilt Shoppes and Church that are participating this year:

Kelly's Sewing Corner
3330 W. 26th Street
Erie
Drop off
11:00-3:00
Millcreek Sewing Center
6044 Peach Street
Erie
Sew In
1:00-4:00
Doug Yaple's Vacuum
1815 E. 38th Street
Erie
Sew In
10:00-2:00
St. Michael 's Church
76 North High Street
Greenville
Sew In
10:00-3:00
Fox's Sewing & Vac
Downtown Mall
Meadville
Drop off
10:00-3:00
Super Stitch
55 West Main Street
North East
Drop off
10:00-3:00

Odds and Ends:
I have been asked to relate stories of children receiving blankets and how they react to them. Unfortunately due to HIPPA Laws we are unable to directly give a child a blanket. But recently we had 3 stories told to us that certainly warmed out hearts and I hope that it does the same for you our wonderful and caring Blanketeers.

The first one was a little girl named Ava that was in St. Vincent Health Center with Pneumonia and she said that the best part of her stay there was receiving a Project Linus blanket. The other story was told to us when we delivered a few bags of blankets to the Crime Victim Center and a Counselor came up to us and said that one of her little clients told her that receiving a Project Linus blanket was like a magic cape that protected them.

This 3rd story came to me recently from a message on our Face Book page. I have included a link to Alex’s page.

Hi JoAnn ... in 2011 my son went through a traumatic accident with a button battery in his nose. He was 4 at the time. We just recently were featured on Monsters Inside Me on Animal Planet. Alex has been through a lot of medical and mental struggles. He's currently gone through 27 surgeries. More to come to fix his nose which is now dead inside. I have started a group called Alex's Crusade to help share the awareness on how dangerous these batteries are not just swallowed up being put in the nose as my son did. During Alex's stay in the hospitals he was given beautiful blankets from this program. Those blankets took a special place for him and comforted Alex in times of being so scared in the hospital. Alex is 9 now and since starting the group a few weeks ago we ordered some of the silicon bracelets with the name on them. Alex is wanting to sell these bracelets and donate proceeds to Project Linus. He is determined to give back to make it possible for you to make other children comfortable and these beautiful creations. I wanted to touch base with you in regards to this in hopes we could make the public aware.


Reminders: Please leave your contact information as you drop of your blankets, so that we can send out a note of appreciation.
Looking Ahead:

February 18th  -National Make a Blanket Day-
July 26th            - Senior Day at the Erie Zoo
August 8th        - Erie Gives
August 18th-20th Celebrate Erie

Follow us on Facebook. You can find us at:
·       NWPAProjectLinus-    Like us -and that automatically will add you to our friend list.
·       www.nwpaprojectlinus.blogspot.com- is our web page

Warmly, 
JoAnn Burkhart
NWPA Project Linus – Coordinator
814-864-9389    814-392-5583 (c)

Nwpaprojectlinus@hotmail.com

Thursday, December 15, 2016

December Blanket Deliveries

This morning while NWPA Project Linus was making its December Blanket deliveries we stopped at The Crime Victim Center, a counselor came up to us and told us that one of her little clients told her that receiving a Project Linus blanket was like a magic cape that protected them. We didn't feel quite so cold delivering the rest of the blankets that we had in the car, as that warmed us right up in a hurry. Again, we Thank all of our many, many Blanketeers that made it possible to deliver 269 this month. Merry Christmas !!

Sunday, December 11, 2016

Monday meeting cancelled

Good Morning Blanketeers,
Due to this lovely snow that wants to keep falling I have decided to cancel our monthly meeting for Monday the 12th for Project Linus at Yaple's 801 W. 26th Street . Many of our Blanketeers live outside of Erie and travel in for the meeting and due to the weather probably would not make it in.
We really appreciate your continued support of our organization. You all make a difference in a childs life. This past week a friend of mine little girl was in the hospital with pneumonia at St. Vincent's Hospital and received a Project Linus blanket. Lil' Ava said it was the highlight of her stay there. 

Our next meeting will be Monday January 9th 2017 9:00-11:00
Stay warm and safe.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all of our wonderful Blanketeers.
JoAnn Burkhart- Coordinator
814-864-9389 814-392-5583
nwpaprojectlinus@hotmail.com
www.nwpaprojectlinus.blogspot.com

Sunday, November 27, 2016

December Newsletter

December, 2016

Hello Blanketeers, 
                                                                             
As many of you begin or have begun to shop on line this holiday season, I would like to bring something new and exciting to your attention. The Amazon Smile Foundation will donate .05% of your purchase to the charity of your choice. Project Linus in one of almost a million charitable organizations that has been registered and qualifies for this fantastic opportunity. The process is a one time set up-and very easy to follow.

It is hard to believe that we are at the end of the year already, it seemed to come up so quickly. Since last November 3,222 blankets have been delivered, to hospitals, emergency shelters, group homes, women’s care centers, and many other agencies that provide aid to children in need. That would not have been possible without our wonderful Blanketeers and Quilt Shoppe’s that support NWPA Project Linus to continue its mission of bringing comfort to children in need in our Community. With your caring support the statement “ It takes a village” truly does comes to life.
Thank you to all who have donated blankets, material, yarn, a place to meet or time to NWPA Project Linus, your efforts are wonderfully appreciated.

February 18, 2017
·        National Make a Blanket Day- Here are a few points of interest about MABD-
·       Bring awareness of the need for blankets
·       Bring awareness to those in need in the winter months that may be in Shelters, Emergency Services…
·       An opportunity for Blanketeers to get together and meet one another
·       An opportunity for Blanketeers to share their ideas of blanket patterns
·       This date may seem far off at this time, but it will be here before we know it.
·        There will be “Sew In’s” or drop off locations in the next newsletter.

Monthly meetings:
December 7th - Millcreek Sewing Center               6044 Peach Street      1:00pm- 4:00pm
December 12th - Yaple’s Vacuum & Sewing            801 W. 26th Street      9:00am-11:00am
December 15th-  Doug Yaple’s Vacuum                   1815 E. 38th Street     10:00am- 2:00pm

ODDS & ENDS:  
If anyone might have any of those large clear zippered comforter or blanket bags and willing to part with them, you could drop them off, when you drop off your blankets. When we receive material or yarn donations it is easier to keep them sorted and clean in these types of bags. Thank you !!



REMINDERS:
  
Blanket Sizes: These are approximate and suggested sizes as I am often asked what we need-
Preemie- 30 X 30    36 X36    Baby -  36 X 40   40 X40      Medium 40 X 60     45 X 60       Large 45 X 72

Looking Ahead:

 February 18th, 2017-  National Make a Blanket Day
July 26th,2017             Senior Day @ Zoo
August 8th, 2017         Erie Gives
August18-20th2017     Celebrate Erie



Follow us on Facebook for updates as well. You can find us at:

·       NWPAProjectLinus-    Like us -and that automatically will add you to our friend list.
·       nwpaprojectlinusblogspot.com- is our web page

Warmly, 
JoAnn Burkhart
NWPA Project Linus – Coordinator
814-864-9389  814-392-5583

Nwpaprojectlinus@hotmail.com

Wednesday, November 9, 2016

Amazon Smile

November 9, 2016
Dear Blanketeers,
As many of you begin or have begun to shop on line this holiday season, I would like to bring something new and exciting to your attention. The Amazon Smile Foundation will donate .05% of your purchase to the charity of your choice. Project Linus in one of almost a million charitable organizations that has been registered and qualifies for this fantastic opportunity.
It is simple and easy. As you log onto Amazon. Smile.com account follow these few steps:
·       On the far right at “Your Account” hover over the drop down arrow
·       Then find the Amazon Smile which will be the 8th option down and click on it.
·       This page will show you many of the larger national charities, but there is a space for you to type in Project Linus.
·       Each time that you shop .05% will then be sent to Project Linus National Headquarters.
So many of us do so much of our shopping online for the convenience of it, and these few extra clicks of the mouse will help so many. (It is a one time set up) If you have any questions, please contact me and I will gladly walk you through the process. I have selected a few key portions that may help as you begin this process.

Thank you for your consideration.

AmazonSmile Program Details

About Choosing a Charitable Organization to Support
On your first visit to AmazonSmile, you will be prompted to select a charitable organization to receive donations from eligible purchases before you begin shopping. We will remember your selection, and then every eligible purchase you make on AmazonSmile will result in a donation. 

AmazonSmile Donations to Charitable Organizations
100% of the donation amount generated from your eligible purchase on AmazonSmile will be donated. The donation amounts generated by your purchases are combined with the donation amounts from all other customers that selected the same organization, and each quarter the AmazonSmile Foundation makes donations to registered charitable organizations by electronic funds transfer. Donations are generally transferred approximately 45 days after the end of each calendar quarter.

Donations are not made for products that are returned.

The amount that the AmazonSmile Foundation donates as a result of your AmazonSmile purchase is not tax deductible by you. If you have any questions about your tax situation, you should contact your tax advisor.

About the AmazonSmile Foundation
The AmazonSmile Foundation is a private 501(c)(3) foundation created by Amazon to administer the AmazonSmile program. All donation amounts generated by the AmazonSmile Program are remitted to the AmazonSmile Foundation. In turn, the AmazonSmile Foundation donates those amount to the charitable organizations selected by our customers. Amazon pays all expenses of the AmazonSmile Foundation; they are not deducted from the donation amounts generated by your purchases on AmazonSmile. You may not make a direct donation to the AmazonSmile Foundation. The only way to support your charitable organization through the AmazonSmile Foundation is to shop on AmazonSmile.

Thank you !!
Warmly,
JoAnn Burkhart
NWPA Project Linus Coordinator
814-864-9389   814-392-5583
www.nwpaprojectlinus.blogspot.com

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