Project Linus Blanket Blog

More great news about Project Linus Institute 2011. See the following announcement from Jennifer Chiaverini at http://www.facebook.com/notes/jennifer-chiaverini/sarahs-twins-cast-your-vote/409052171576 or http://elmcreek.net/index.php/main/news/sarahs-twins-cast-your-vote/

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Institute 2011

We are very happy to announce preliminary plans for our Bi-Annual Project Linus Institute July 20-23, 2011 at the Pere Marquette Hotel in Peoria Illinois. 

In past years, Project Linus Institute has been open only to our Chapter Coordinators and their guests.  Beginning with our 2011 Institute, registration will be open to anyone interested in learning blanket making techniques, sharing stories, hearing fabulous speakers and celebrating Project Linus.

Institute is a 4-day conference. It features classes from the finest teachers in the country. You will have the opportunity to visit booths and demonstrations about the latest and greatest techniques for everything from making blankets, gifts, knitting, crocheting, quilting and more. 

We are especially pleased to announce that our Friday evening speaker will be Elm Creek Quilts series author Jennifer Chiaverini. In Jennifer’s recent book “A Quilter’s Holiday” one of the characters in the book decides she wants to open a chapter of Project Linus at Elm Creek Manor, which is the fictional Elm Creek quilters retreat. It was really fun to read about “us” in her book and see how she wove Project Linus into the story. Needless to say we were thrilled and honored.  The Friday event will also be a fundraising benefit for Project Linus.

Jennifer will be making an announcement in the next few weeks about a special project involving another character in the book and Project Linus. I’m not going to say more now, but it will be a lot of fun. She will also be doing an advance reading of an excerpt of her next novel at Institute and revealing a surprise announcement.

We are still booking guests and teachers, and announcements will be made as we know more.  But you can count on a memorable experience at Project Linus Institute.  On-line registration will hopefully be available in July 2010 along with more information.  We will have a block of rooms available at the Pere Marquette Hotel, and there are many other downtown hotels to choose from.  You can fly directly to Peoria (PIA) or Central Illinois Regional Airport in Bloomington (BLM). Peoria is about a 2-3 hour drive from both St. Louis and Chicago.

Save the date!  You won’t want to miss out. More information coming soon!

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Project Linus Blanketeer and a wall of blankets!

It was November when I started to hear about it.  I think I may have seen something on television. Certainly someone emailed me about it and wondered if we were going to be involved.  It began as a little whisper and turned into a mighty roar!  Disney’s Give a Day Get a Disney Day was a great idea and a simple plan – volunteer for any registered non-profit organization, and get a free pass for a day at Disneyland or Walt Disney World.  I contacted HandsOn Network immediately about how we could get involved. We invited our local chapters to participate and many did.  But  I completely underestimated how big this would be, and how many people would participate in the Project Linus opportunities.  I thought that surely there would be so many opportunities around the country and so many non-profits involved that the impact on Project Linus would be minimal to moderate.  The program launched on January 1st, 2010, and it wasn’t long – days – before we knew that this would be something unexpected.  Many of our chapter coordinators spent days and weeks on end at their computers just trying to answer emails and phone calls. At our national headquarters, blankets started pouring in within a couple of days. The phone started ringing, and didn’t slow down for about 3 months.  Our mail carrier and other delivery drivers were caught unaware.  Some days, we would get well over 100 boxes, many of which contained 8 blankets or more.  We had to quickly find more space to lease in our building to house and process the blankets. It’s hard to imagine what 5000 blankets really looks like! 

Logistically it was a challenge but it would be hard to overstate the benefits to our organization, and not only in blankets. Countless people have told us that they are thrilled to know about Project Linus. Many of them will continue to make blankets for our chapters.

The goodwill and positive PR for Project Linus is immeasurable.  We have talked to the most delightful people.  It was a pleasure to visit with them and hear their stories.  Several parents told us that their children did not know that they were being “rewarded” for their service but were having a blast making blankets for other children. That in itself was a great reward for them.  Moms and dads expressed that their families planned special events to work together on blankets and what a pleasure it was to all be in the same room. They explained to their children that other children would be benefiting from their hard work, and finding comfort and security in a soft cuddly blanket made by hand.

Disney announced on March 10, 2010 that 1,000,000 vouchers had been allocated and they were closing the program.  We at Project Linus are proud and grateful to have been involved with Disney and HandsOn Network.  We are excited about all the new volunteers that have learned about Project Linus and plan to continue to support our efforts. Welcome!

Here are some numbers that you may find interesting:

• 117,237. As of April 8, the number of volunteers who have been verified with Project Linus. Some – a very few – are “No-shows” while well over 110,000 are “Attended”.
• 3449. As of April 8, the number of people who are “Upcoming Commitments” – still waiting to complete their service for chapter opportunities.
• 2520. The approximate number of volunteers who are upcoming for the “Virtual” project through PLHQ.
• 7784. As of April 8, the number of blankets received at PLHQ.
• 120,000. We could potentially end up with over 120,000 verifications for Project Linus.
• 12%. The percentage of the million Disney vouchers that would go to Project Linus volunteers.

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Welcome to the new Project Linus Blanket Blog!  It’s been a long time in the planning and discussion stages but we are very excited to finally be ready to go.  This will be a fun, casual way to communicate with our volunteers and blanketeers, and anyone else who wants to learn more about Project Linus.

We have also added other social media applications recently. You will find icons on our website home page for Facebook and Twitter. We welcome you to become a fan and follow us. Others are soon to follow as we take full advantage of the available technology. 

We are glad you are here – come back often!

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