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Project Linus: Blankets for Children in Crisis
Episode 8 • 30th July 2023 • Listening for Clues • On the Journey with Jon & Lauren
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Project Linus: Blankets for Children in Crisis

We are honored to have Kay Belzner , a volunteer with Project LInus, here with us today. Project Linus provides handmade blankets to children 0-18 in the United States who are seriously ill, traumatized, or otherwise in need.

Highlights:

[00:00:00] Intro  

[00:01:07] How Kay got started with Project Linus 

[00:02:15] How does Project LInus work? 

[00:04:00] Stories 

[00:06:54] Personal Relationship with God 

[00:09:25] Obstacles 

[00:10:44] A Community

[00:11:43] What skills are needed to do this?  

[00:16:03] How to get more information and help 

[00:19:38] Thanks

Kay Belzner is a retired elementary school counselor, married to Husband Chuck, live in Baltimore County; she enjoys reading, sewing and knitting for charity, gardening, crafting, finding ways to help those in need, exploring and deepening her relationship with God.

Resources mentioned in this episode:

Listening for Clues is pleased to present our new series, "Good News!" featuring weekly conversations with people who are making a difference, large or small. We want everyone to know what they are doing, why they are doing it, and how. So, our listeners and viewers can experience the good news and go out and make a difference themselves.

Listening for Clues invites you into conversations that discover clues, rather than solutions to life’s problems. Join the journey with Jon Shematek and Lauren Welch, Episcopal deacons, as we explore whatever lies ahead. Check our website Listening for Clues.

© 2023 Listening for Clues

Transcripts

Jon:

-Welcome to Good News, brought to you by Listening for Clues.

Lauren:

We are Lauren Welch and Jon Shematek Deacons in the

Lauren:

Episcopal Diocese of Maryland.

Jon:

We sure are.

Jon:

And today we have some good news that we're bringing to

Jon:

you with our special guest.

Jon:

Kay Belzner Kay is a volunteer with Project Linus.

Jon:

She's a retired elementary school counselor, married to Chuck.

Jon:

They live in Baltimore County, and Kay enjoys reading, sewing, knitting for

Jon:

charity, gardening, crafting, finding ways to help those in need and exploring

Jon:

and deepening her relationship with God.

Jon:

Welcome, Kay.

Jon:

We're so glad to have you.

Kay:

Thank you.

Kay:

I'm really happy to be here today.

Kay:

So,

Lauren:

We're really glad that you're here with us today.

Lauren:

Kay.

Lauren:

So what really interested in Project Linus is tell us what

Lauren:

inspired you to get involved.

Kay:

Well, Project Linus was something I sort of heard about

Kay:

or read about in a magazine, and I understood that they made blankets.

Kay:

For children in need.

Kay:

Perhaps children who were homeless or going into foster care maybe had

Kay:

had a death in the family or even in the community, maybe in their school.

Kay:

And that's always been something close to my heart as it, as Jon

Kay:

said in the, the introduction.

Kay:

I love helping other people.

Kay:

If I can find ways to do that in simple ways.

Kay:

And I've always loved to sew.

Kay:

Learned in middle school like a lot of us did at this age.

Kay:

And you know, did a lot of my own clothes for many years and then

Kay:

did things for nieces and nephews.

Kay:

And then it got to a point where there wasn't really anything

Kay:

else to make for anybody.

Kay:

And I thought, well, this'll be a great outlet for my desire to sew

Kay:

and my love of fabric and getting back into knitting, which I also do.

Kay:

But then sharing that in a way that will hopefully benefit others.

Jon:

That's great.

Jon:

Kay.

Jon:

So tell us a little bit more about Project Linus.

Jon:

How does it actually work?

Kay:

Well, project Linus is primarily an all volunteer organization.

Kay:

The only employees they have they have a president who is located in

Kay:

Kansas City there is a part-time IT person and an assistant to that

Kay:

executive director, and president.

Kay:

Everyone else is volunteer and what project Linus asks for are

Kay:

brand new handmade blankets for children ages zero through 18.

Kay:

And they're distributed through what we call chapters across the country.

Kay:

And right now there are about 306 chapters across the country.

Kay:

Quite a, quite a number in Maryland.

Kay:

Here where we are, I happen to participate with the Carroll County chapter, even

Kay:

though I live in Baltimore County, it's where I got started with them.

Kay:

So then once the blankets are made and collected by each chapter,

Kay:

then they're distributed to various agencies that work with that chapter.

Kay:

So, So, for example, our chapter will donate to Kennedy Krieger Institute.

Kay:

They will, we will donate to Johns Hopkins to G B M C, to a local surgical

Kay:

center in Westminster Carroll Hospital.

Kay:

We have other chapters that might donate, like I said, to schools, or

Kay:

there might be a special need that might come up in a community where

Kay:

someone will contact Project Linus and say, we had a tragedy in our school,

Kay:

or we had a tragedy in our, community.

Kay:

Do you have some blankets that we can kind of give a hug?

Kay:

To a kid that's, that's kind of the purpose is the

Kay:

blanket, hopefully is a hug.

Kay:

A little bit of love for not only the child, but very often the family members

Kay:

as well who are caring for that child.

Kay:

And we find, even the teens enjoy and they get, sometimes they pick out their

Kay:

own, you know, they might, a nurse might come in with some to choose.

Kay:

And so we try to, to spread that fabric in a way that would

Kay:

appeal to anyone from an infant up through a, teenager in high school.

Lauren:

So you've been doing this for a while, Kay.

Lauren:

You must have lots of stories to share.

Kay:

I have Lauren, I've been doing this since 2004.

Kay:

I made my first blanket just sort of on a whim.

Kay:

I had some flannel and some denim, and I thought, this looks like a boy.

Kay:

And I put together sort of a what I call a cuddle blanket.

Kay:

At that time especially, I was not a true quilter.

Kay:

And you don't have to be.

Kay:

So I put that together and received a thank you note from the chapter

Kay:

and I thought, well, that's nice.

Kay:

I could do this again.

Kay:

And since that time I've created 144 blankets that I've donated

Kay:

over the last 19 years and.

Kay:

You know, again, we don't do it for the thanks, but it's also nice to hear

Kay:

sometimes from someone probably the most touching note I received was from a child

Kay:

at the Baltimore Child Abuse Center.

Kay:

This was several years ago, and they mailed the card because you can put

Kay:

your information on the blanket, you can put a tag on it that has just

Kay:

your name and address if you choose.

Kay:

And so this note came and it was a drawing and it looked like maybe a child

Kay:

that was maybe seven or eight years old had the sun shining and some flowers,

Kay:

and it said thank you for my blanket.

Kay:

I love it.

Kay:

I can't wait to take it home.

Kay:

And of course, it, it touches your heart because you don't know

Kay:

what this child's situation is

Kay:

and so, That really touched my heart and sort of tugged

Kay:

at my heartstrings a little.

Kay:

There was another situation where we had a young man who had a terminal illness

Kay:

and he was in the Carroll County area and he happened to get one of my blankets.

Kay:

You never know where yours is gonna go, you just donate.

Kay:

And so he sent me a note back thanking me and letting me know that he also

Kay:

now was making blankets for other kids.

Kay:

He was about 12.

Kay:

And sadly, he he passed away from his terminal illness, at which time

Kay:

we made some memorial donations in his name because he had sort

Kay:

of become part of our chapter.

Kay:

I've had parents send me pictures of their little ones holding the blankets.

Kay:

And it may be just an ER visit, you know, it might be a dog bite,

Kay:

it could be a respiratory illness.

Kay:

It doesn't necessarily mean it's a terminal thing, but just comfort

Kay:

during a real scary time for, for families as well as for the kids.

Jon:

Kay.

Jon:

That sounds like that's really personally been very rewarding for you.

Kay:

Mm-hmm.

Kay:

Very much so.

Kay:

Recently, there was also a situation where there was a young woman

Kay:

in the Harford County area who was in a terrible car accident.

Kay:

And I found out about it through some peripheral friends and they suggested

Kay:

maybe a Project Linus blanket and I was actually able, I don't normally

Kay:

deliver, but I was able to take this directly to her father while she was

Kay:

still at the hospital where she remains.

Kay:

It's, it's been about nine weeks.

Kay:

She's in.

Kay:

Rehabilitation now, but to be able to actually deliver that to her dad on

Kay:

her behalf, just something to brighten her room, you know, if nothing else.

Kay:

And just to hopefully bring a little cheer and a little hope and

Kay:

a reminder that they're loved and that people are thinking of them.

Lauren:

Kay.

Lauren:

You mentioned in your bio that a lot of what you do in your life help

Lauren:

you with your relationship with God.

Lauren:

How has this one changed or enhanced your relationship with God?

Kay:

I think for me, The first thing is doing for others.

Kay:

That's always, I, I guess a way that I, I look for ways that I can, as, as they

Kay:

say, Christ has no body on earth but ours.

Kay:

And so that takes all kinds of forms and I feel like a blanket could

Kay:

certainly be a form if, if I can say with some fabric or with some yarn that

Kay:

someone cares about you, someone loves you, that there's good in the world.

Kay:

Especially now, things are, we're in a very tough place

Kay:

in our world and I think I.

Kay:

Sending that out into the world, it reminds me.

Kay:

But then the joy that I get back from it and I finish something

Kay:

and I look at it and, oh, I wonder who's going to get this blanket?

Kay:

Or I hope someone picks this and it makes them smile.

Kay:

Or what can I do to make this even cuter And even as I'm looking for

Kay:

fabrics, I'm thinking about the children.

Kay:

And so I think in that way it has helped me.

Kay:

Another thing I try to do is as I finish a blanket before I donate

Kay:

them, I bless them, I pray over them praying for not only the children.

Kay:

The parents and then whoever it might be, the caregivers, the

Kay:

medical team, the social workers, whoever's involved with that child.

Kay:

And so I'll, I'll do a prayer of blessing over them.

Kay:

And then most recently, what's been kind of interesting at up until

Kay:

I retired, I would just donate blankets, dropped them off at a Joanne

Kay:

Fabric store, and that was that.

Kay:

But since I've retired, I've been able to start participating in person.

Kay:

And Carroll County chapter is actually an hour away from me,

Kay:

so it's not necessarily close.

Kay:

I only go two times a month.

Kay:

That time in the car.

Kay:

For me, knowing where I'm going, I might listen to an audiobook or something

Kay:

that will be maybe inspirational for me.

Kay:

I'll have some quiet, just turn everything down and just have some prayer time.

Kay:

I might explore an area out there that I'm not used to.

Kay:

Maybe there's a park or a place to visit.

Kay:

It's sort of a retreat day, if that makes sense.

Kay:

That's a day dedicated to Project Linus, but also to me, and I can kind of reap

Kay:

the benefits of it being sort of a quiet, spiritual day for me as well.

Kay:

So that's, that's also been a blessing.

Jon:

Wow.

Jon:

Yeah.

Jon:

That's, that's amazing.

Jon:

These are, these are definitely prayer blankets then.

Kay:

Mm-hmm.

Jon:

Yeah, yeah.

Jon:

So Kay, in the 19 years that you've been doing this, have you encountered any bumps

Jon:

in the road or, or obstacles, or has it been really smooth sailing all along?

Kay:

I think the only bumps I've probably run into would be my own lack of time

Kay:

at times where I want it to make more.

Kay:

I want it to be more proactive.

Kay:

I And for me personally, sometimes comparing myself to other people,

Kay:

which I know I shouldn't do.

Kay:

I'll look at a blanket and boy, oh, mine, mine looks so simple.

Kay:

But then I said, no, it doesn't matter.

Kay:

That's also been good because I've looked and said, these are the talents

Kay:

that God gave me., certainly that's what I tell everybody who says, oh,

Kay:

I can't make blankets like those.

Kay:

And I said, make it with love and it'll be fine.

Kay:

You know, some kid will love it.

Kay:

Last week, at the chapter one woman said, I had what I thought was the most

Kay:

unattractive blanket I've ever seen, and this young teenage girl just scooped

Kay:

it up and couldn't wait to take it.

Kay:

So what we like, don't, like doesn't mean a kid will or won't.

Kay:

Yeah.

Kay:

So I think your, if your heart is there and your intention is there..

Kay:

I would say it's such a, a smoothly run organization.

Kay:

It's such a generous group of people.

Kay:

That's what has really impressed me as well, is the generosity, not just

Kay:

financially of, of making these blankets, but just of their time, their talent.

Kay:

And sharing ideas.

Kay:

We talk about that at the chapter.

Kay:

We get inspired by one another or someone will take the time to teach

Kay:

someone else, you know, this is how you put binding on, or this is how you do

Kay:

this crochet stitch, I've really been touched as I've gotten more involved in

Kay:

person at the generosity of, of folks.

Lauren:

So you, you build community also?

Kay:

Absolutely.

Kay:

I've only been at attending in person for about, I.

Kay:

A little over a year, and I very much feel a part of this community already.

Kay:

And these were not women that I knew.

Kay:

Mostly women.

Kay:

There's a few men.

Kay:

They were just names on a paper or on a newsletter.

Kay:

So there was no personal connection.

Kay:

But I have to say, I, I feel very blessed and I feel like I've made friends.

Kay:

Without question, and, I've jumped in.

Kay:

I do the newsletter now for our chapter.

Kay:

We have letter twice a year to just, again, remind people of

Kay:

different ideas and to try to e encourage people to give it a try.

Kay:

You know, if it's one blanket a year, it's one blanket a year.

Kay:

there's no limit or requirement at all.

Jon:

Kay, that's making me wonder are there specific

Jon:

skills that people need to have?

Kay:

If you have basic sewing skills, you could do something as simple as

Kay:

a single sheet of a piece of fabric.

Kay:

Say that was 36 by 36, and you take two of them, sew them together

Kay:

back to back, turn 'em inside out and run a stitch around them.

Kay:

And that could be a baby blanket.

Kay:

So it can be as simple as that.

Kay:

We have groups that do the fleece blankets.

Kay:

Sometimes you'll see a piece of fleece that has fringe that's been

Kay:

tied in knots along the edges.

Kay:

We have sort of specifications.

Kay:

But there's lots of instructions on the website.

Kay:

But you could do something as simple as that.

Kay:

We've had like girl scout groups or youth groups do those kinds of blankets for us.

Kay:

We have senior centers that make blankets for us, and so

Kay:

there's really no requirement.

Kay:

It could be and, and it could be simple as somebody who just

Kay:

knows how to straight knit.

Kay:

It could be somebody who finds this beautiful pattern that's

Kay:

full of lacy design or likes to change colors or whatever.

Kay:

So it can be as simple as something that really a, a middle school or, or, or even

Kay:

an elementary school with some help could do up through very experienced folks.

Kay:

And, and the making of the blankets is certainly one way and fleece, quilting

Kay:

flannel as well as then knit or crochet.

Kay:

The thing that we do ask, and I know this podcast could be seen probably across the

Kay:

country, is that each chapter really has.

Kay:

A sense of what they need and why.

Kay:

So for example, our chapter will not take two pieces of fleece that are tied

Kay:

together to make a double fleece blanket.

Kay:

They're too hot, they're too heavy, they're too thick,

Kay:

they take up too much storage.

Kay:

But I know there are chapters up in the northern.

Kay:

Part of the country who want those doubles because they've got those cold

Kay:

winters and, and really need them.

Kay:

So it's really important to check with individual chapters where you're

Kay:

located, if you want to donate what do you need, what are you looking for?

Kay:

What are minimum requirements for size, which typically about 30 by 30, but some

Kay:

chapters don't want them that small.

Kay:

So it's important to check.

Kay:

With individual chapters.

Kay:

It's not the chapter making the decision really.

Kay:

It's who they're going to, who needs them, and what do they need

Kay:

so that they can meet the needs.

Jon:

And so Project Linus is in all 50 states in the United States.

Kay:

I believe we may be missing one or two states.

Kay:

Each chapter requires a chapter coordinator, which is a volunteer who kind

Kay:

of spearheads everything for that group.

Kay:

They may not participate.

Kay:

Physically.

Kay:

We have a lot of chapter coordinators who work full-time, and this is a

Kay:

part-time for them, but they may have a team of people that then help them,

Kay:

but the coordinators are responsible for tracking how many blankets came in,

Kay:

how many blankets went out, who needs them, who's getting them this month.

Kay:

Applying for grant money entering information.

Kay:

Providing, figuring out what can we spend the money on?

Kay:

And there are guidelines for all of that because we wanna keep

Kay:

everything as much focused on the blankets, obviously, as we can.

Kay:

So that's a very busy position, but we have a lot of other folks who

Kay:

plug in and other ways to volunteer if you didn't sew or didn't knit but

Kay:

still wanted to be a part of things.

Kay:

We have groups of people that go to Joanne Fabrics or the

Kay:

senior center, or the Walmart or wherever the collection sites are.

Kay:

Pick those up once a month.

Kay:

Take them home, make sure there aren't pins left in them and things like that.

Kay:

We have people then that they bring those to the meeting once a month.

Kay:

Our Carroll County chapter gets between four and 500 blankets a month.

Kay:

That we then distribute.

Kay:

And so then we bag them up one day, you know, on one day a month,

Kay:

we bag those up and label them.

Kay:

And then another group of people takes them and then they'll deliver

Kay:

them to Johns Hopkins or they'll deliver 'em to Kennedy Krieger.

Kay:

So we have people who deliver and pick up who, when I say inspect again,

Kay:

just to make sure there aren't pins.

Kay:

And we do have to be careful about things like smoke.

Kay:

Or pet hair or dander because so many of these are going to hospitals and

Kay:

with allergies and compromised health situations, we have to make sure that all

Kay:

the blankets are, are clear of that, which is why we ask for new handmade blankets.

Kay:

So that it's not used materials.

Kay:

So there are other ways to to assist.

Kay:

Even something as simple as maybe if you wanted to go to

Kay:

a meeting, somebody could cut.

Kay:

Cut fabric.

Kay:

If they, if they weren't good at sewing, they could assist somebody else.

Kay:

And maybe they do the cutting and somebody else does the sewing.

Kay:

So there's creative ways that you can help, even if you're

Kay:

not hooked to a sewing machine.

Jon:

Great.

Jon:

And so let me just kind of follow up with that a little bit.

Jon:

Kay.

Jon:

A lot of ways to help.

Jon:

It's all over the country pretty much.

Jon:

How do people find out what the local chapter is?

Jon:

Okay.

Jon:

Do you have a website?

Kay:

Yes, we do.

Kay:

It's www.projectlinus.org and on there you will see a link for chapters and then each

Kay:

state, you click on your state and it will give you all the locations in that state.

Kay:

And within that it will give you the contact person for that chapter.

Kay:

It may also list the drop site.

Kay:

For that particular chapter, there's a little flag that you can click on.

Kay:

In addition to that, on the website, you can also click on,

Kay:

you could donate through there.

Kay:

There's a store, they call it a store where you could purchase patterns.

Kay:

Sometimes there's free patterns on the site..

Kay:

You could also, once a year there's a knitalong and as well as a mystery

Kay:

quilt, and that's one of their biggest fundraisers of the year.

Kay:

And so you can designate.

Kay:

The cost of that, which you pay for to go to your local chapter if you choose,

Kay:

and you get clues for about eight weeks.

Kay:

And that's fun because people across the country are working on the same project.

Kay:

And there's Facebook pages for those.

Kay:

Project.

Kay:

Linus itself also has a Facebook page.

Kay:

The official one is called Project Linus Volunteers, USA so there's

Kay:

information there on, on how to donate, how to purchase items.

Kay:

They have t-shirts and tote bags and all those kind of things.

Kay:

With Project Linus, that's all been licensed.

Kay:

Through Charles Schultz.

Kay:

And we have permission to use it and have to reapply I believe it's every

Kay:

three years and can only be used at certain times in certain ways.

Jon:

Great.

Jon:

And we'll be sure to put those web links and Facebook links in our show notes for

Jon:

people to easily get to Project Linus.

Kay:

Yeah, that would be great.

Lauren:

Kay,.

Lauren:

Is there anything else you'd like to share with us about your experience?

Kay:

I would just encourage people to take a peek if they're even a little bit

Kay:

interested in, in some charity knitting or they, when they're sitting around watching

Kay:

TV at night, they want something to do and maybe they haven't knitted for a while.

Kay:

It's just such a heartwarming organization and you really can see

Kay:

what's happening, we get thank you notes.

Kay:

In general, the, the national site will post sometimes thank you

Kay:

notes from a parent and you figure for every thank you note that you

Kay:

see there's 50 that you don't.

Kay:

So I can't help but believe that that little ripple is going out there.

Kay:

And, and again, for me, that's, that's that other piece of, of

Kay:

God for me is I believe that.

Kay:

There is that ripple.

Kay:

And I think God uses us to do those little simple things that then in turn might

Kay:

inspire the next person to do something, whether it's this or something else.

Kay:

But I just encourage people, even just read about it and see if, if it fits for

Kay:

you or if not for a friend, maybe you know, someone or your grandmom's looking

Kay:

for something, you know, to, to work on.

Kay:

And like I said, we get a lot of folks from the senior center

Kay:

and it keeps them occupied.

Kay:

We have one lady that comes to our group, she's 91.

Kay:

She still sews.

Kay:

She doesn't drive someone brings her, but she will do easily 20 blankets a month,

Kay:

you know, that, that we see for her.

Kay:

And she comes with her friend and they're a little team and they work together.

Kay:

So you're not too old or too young to give it a try.

Kay:

And it's just, like I said, it's been such an important part of my life and

Kay:

now that I'm retired, I'm enjoying it even, even more because I feel

Kay:

like I can dedicate more time to it.

Kay:

So I would encourage folks to check it out.

Lauren:

You're truly making a difference in the lives of lots

Lauren:

of people and especially children.

Kay:

Thank you.

Kay:

I, we hope so.

Kay:

That's our goal.

Kay:

Yeah, that's our good news.

Kay:

Yes.

Kay:

Yeah.

Jon:

Yeah.

Jon:

And Kay, thank you so much for being with us today and

Jon:

helping to share this good news.

Jon:

We really absolutely appreciate it.

Jon:

Thanks again.

Jon:

Thanks.

Kay:

Thanks for having me.

Kay:

Take care.

Lauren:

And Jon and I also want to thank all those who are watching or listening.

Lauren:

We cannot spread good news without your participation.

Lauren:

Please take a moment to comment, like, and share on all your social

Lauren:

media platforms so that will help us spread good news to even more people.

Lauren:

And again, thank you for the gift of your time.

Lauren:

Until next time, peace and blessings.

Jon:

Good news is being brought to you by Listening for Clues.

Jon:

You can find us on our website, listeningforclues.com, our YouTube

Jon:

channel, our Vimeo channel, and just about every podcast platform that there is.

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