Christine Newby learned the art of crochet from her mom.
Over the years, she’s used the talent to make blankets for friends and family, but it found a thriving home in an organization called Project Linus.
“When you have a passion, you just keep making stuff,” said Newby, who took over the Augusta chapter of the organization in 2018.
Inspired by the Peanuts’ character Linus and his ever-present security blanket, Project Linus provides handcrafted blankets to children who are seriously ill, who have been through a traumatic situation or are otherwise in need of comfort.
Newby was content with her yarn and needle until she sat down for coffee with the group’s coordinator who was going through some family issues and needed someone to take over the local organization, which was started in 2011.
At first, Newby said, “No.” She was still working as an IT project manager and didn’t have the time. The coordinator asked her to deliver the blankets she’d made to the Ronald McDonald House.
“That was all she wrote,” Newby said. “They were so thankful for the donations. They sat me on the chair with Ronald McDonald’s arm around me and put all 25 of the blankets around. I was bawling my eyes out.”
Credit: Charmain Brackett
Credit: Charmain Brackett
That first year, Newby and her handful of volunteers made 400 blankets. And they kept going. Last year, the total was more than 6,000, pushing the grand total of donated blankets to 23,621. Newby expects the chapter to top 30,000 blankets by year’s end.
Blankets are distributed throughout the community. The babies at the NICU at Wellstar Children’s Hospital of Georgia are among the youngest and teens in a program for those transitioning out of the foster care system are the oldest.
It’s grown from a handful of volunteers to an average of 90 attending the monthly blanket-making days in the community rooms at Platt’s Funeral Home. All ages, from mothers with elementary school-aged children in tow to people in their 90s, come together to cut, tie, sew or organize. Students help out to gain community service hours.
Newby recalled one blanket-making day that brought out several smaller children who wanted to help. They were too young to use the scissors or do some of the other tasks required so she asked them to take the fabric around the room to make sure the pieces got lots of hugs. That love, she told them, could be given to another child.
Multiple rooms in Newby’s home are also dedicated to Project Linus. She has a large project room with tables plus a walk-in packed with fabric. She even has about 500 yards of fabric in the bathtub of her spare bathroom – hidden behind a shower curtain.
“We’ve had so much fabric donated. We determined I have about 7,000 yards of fabric in my closet,” she said. “As soon as I clean it out, someone else will donate fabric and we’ll fill it up again.”
What Newby loves most are the relationships that she’s formed and the community that has been cultivated. She marvels at the growth she’s seen. At each event, she honors her mom and gives the new “blanketeer” a plant propagated from one her mother gave her.
“None of you would be here if my mom hadn’t taught me to crochet,” she tells them.
HOW TO HELP
To learn more about Project Linus, visit their website at projectlinus.org or Facebook page at facebook.com/ProjectLinusAugustaGaChapter.
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