District 25 community to donate over 130 blankets
On a busy Saturday morning in February, families from the District 25 community cycled in and out of Westgate Elementary School, with one mission: make blankets.
The effort is part of Project Linus, which collects donated blankets crafted by volunteers from all over the country, to deliver to children that are ill, traumatized or in need.
"What made this event so great is that people were able to sit and relax and come together on a Saturday morning to work on something for a common good," Lauren Cruz said.
Cruz leads the new Westgate Cares Service Club made up of 65 Westgate students who range from first to fifth grade. They meet twice a month to work on a service project that impacts their local community.
This month the Service Club, in partnership with the Westgate PTA, focused on Project Linus. Families were asked to donate fleece blanket materials and then come to Westgate on Saturday, Feb. 6, to make the blankets.
"The kids really were the ones who shined," Cruz said, "as they worked together to tie the knots and sew the blankets together. We often don't get to see that side of them on a Saturday morning."
In all, 62 families helped construct 93 blankets that are going to be dropped off with a local Project Linus chapter coordinator. That person will drive the blankets around the area to be distributed to different hospitals and centers, like Lurie Children's Hospital.
Just two and a half miles across town, the Olive Service Learning Club, made up of fifth-graders at Olive-Mary Stitt School, participated in Project Linus as well. Olive Service Learning Club members donated material for the blankets and Olive teachers Susan Dunlop and Deborah Tranter oversaw the creation of the blankets.
Because of the students' efforts, 35 to 40 blankets will be donated to the children's ward at Northwest Community Hospital.
Project Linus has donated nearly six million blankets to children all over the country since 1995.
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