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If nothing else, a child can hold on to a blanket

An area Project Linus group joins others nationwide in offering comfort to traumatized children.

By WAVENEY ANN MOORE
Published September 21, 2005

TIERRA VERDE - Say Linus and the name evokes visions of a blanket-dragging kid, one of the beloved Peanuts characters created by Charles M. Schulz - or just any child attached for dear life to a security blankie.

It's what Karen Loucks thought about in 1995, when she started Project Linus, a national organization that makes blankets for children in distress.

In the weeks since what many are calling America's worst disaster, the organization has given away almost 20,000 handmade blankets to children affected by Hurricane Katrina.

Dozens have come from the Tampa Bay area, where Tierra Verde resident Judy Fielding is the local coordinator for Project Linus.

Last week Fielding, a former pediatric nurse at All Children's Hospital, talked of dropping off 75 blankets at the Pinellas County School District office for children who have been evacuated to the area.

She worries that she might have missed siblings not enrolled in school. Fielding also has sent dozens of blankets to Alabama and Mississippi and is planning to take more than 400 to Hillsborough.

"I just think that it is important for the kids to have something of their very own for security at a time when their world is falling apart," she said.

Last week Fielding showed off a kaleidoscope of small blankets that covered every inch of her family room sectional and another chair. Many had been donated by women from Hudson to Lakeland to Bradenton. Each was handmade. Some were colorful quilts. Others were knitted or crocheted.

Those that will go to young hurricane victims were purposely crafted of cuddly fleece. Each blanket bore a label that said, in part, "Made with tender loving care for Project Linus." Fielding, who got involved with the project four years ago, added her own special touch. Inside an embroidered heart were the words "Just for you from Project Linus."

With Fielding at her home last week was neighbor Lora Fulmer. The women, both of whom lost young adult daughters to illness, started sewing to relieve their grief. They met at a sewing shop on Fourth Street in St. Petersburg.

The blankets made by the two women and others around the Tampa Bay area also go to Alpha House, CASA, All Children's Hospital and the Ronald McDonald House. Carol Babbitt, president of the national organization in Bloomington, Ill., said Fielding is one of 357 chapter coordinators around the country.

Beside making some of the blankets, Fielding also picks them up from volunteers, delivers and mails them. Florida Kiwanis clubs have been major supporters this year, she said.

[Last modified September 21, 2005, 00:24:18]