How do I Say Thank You

How do I Say Thank You?

As I sit down to begin the next Linus newsletter, I feel overwhelmed with gratitude. I am also confounded by the question, “How do I say thank you enough?” I know that hundreds and hundreds of the most generous souls in the Midwest will read this and I want each and every one of them to know how special THEIR donation is! How special that little child must feel that gets the gift of a brand-new handmade blanket from someone they will never meet. Someone who cared if they were sick, taken from an abusive home, lost their mom or dad or brother or sister, or were just in some sad place in their life. Each and every blanket is special, as is each and every child.

Now that we have sailed over 10,000 donations (yes, 10,000!), we have much to be proud of. And I have much to be grateful for. YOU are the foundation that keeps our organization a vital part of the Omaha and Council Bluffs area. YOU are the reason it keeps going. YOU are the ones that should give yourselves a big pat-on-the-back. Bless all of you for your hard work and once again ---- Thank you!

Ginny DeBates

Drop Off Locations:

The following list is where you can take your completed blankets. Be sure to “look around” J when you drop off your blankets as these wonderful businesses donate their time and space to help make Linus run smoothly!

u Country Sampler

11928 W. Center Road

Omaha, NE 68114

(402)333-6131

http://www.countrysampleronline.com/

Hours:

Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday 10am-5:30pm

Thursday 10am-8pm

Sunday 12pm-5pm

u Country Sampler Too

841 Tara Plaza

Papillion, NE

(402) 537-9515

(Website and hours same as Country Sampler.)

u Bergen Mercy Hospital

Pastoral Care

7500 Mercy Road

Omaha, NE 68124

(402)398-6060

u Kanesville Quilting

19851 Virginia Hills Road

Council Bluffs, Iowa 51503

http://www.kanesvillequilting.com/

Hours:

Monday-Friday 10am-5:30pm Saturday 10am-4pm

u Country Traditions

413 N. Main

Fremont, NE 68025

http://www.countrytraditionsonline.com/

Monday-Friday 10am-5:30pm

Thursday 10am-8pm

Saturday 10am-5pm

u Seams To Be

511 Main Street

Plattsmouth, NE 68048

(402)296-3360

http://www.seamstobequilts.com/

Hours:

Monday, Wednesday, Friday 10am-6pm

Thursday 10am-7:30pm

Saturday 10am-5pm and Sunday 1pm-5pm

u Quilted Moose

109 Enterprise Drive

(½ Block from the intersection of Hwy 370/Hwy 6)

Gretna, NE 68028

http://www.quiltedmooseonline.com/

Hours:

Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday 10am-6pm

Thursday 10am-8pm

Friday and Saturday 10am-5pm

A Special Welcome

Omaha Project Linus would like to welcome a new member to our team. Michaele Pleiss has taken over the West Omaha blankets and has been very busy picking up blankets, sewing on tags, and even adding lots of her own handmade blankets, too! At one point this summer she had so many blankets at her house that her husband threatened to come in and move them around with his lawn tractor!!! We are so glad to have her and appreciate all of her help!

We would also like to thank Shelly Reiner for all of her help getting West Omaha going strong! We wish her luck in her new home!

Where Do The Blankets Go?

Open Door Mission

Creighton Hospital

Creighton Neonatal Intensive Care Unit

Boys Town Pediatric Hospital

Offutt Air Force Base

University Hospital

University Hospital Neonatal Intensive Care Unit

Project Harmony

Children’s Hospital

Foster Care Review Board

Phoenix House

Mercy Hospital

Bergen Mercy Hospital

Bergen Mercy Hospital Neonatal Intensive Care Unit

Kids and Co.

YWCA

EPS Pregnancy Services

Immanuel Hospital

Heartland Family Services

American Red Cross

Sudanese Relief Organization

Masonic Eastern Star Home for Children

Jefferson House

Boys Town

Blair Community Hospital

Area Funeral Homes

Area School Counselors

Many, Many Individual Children

Project Linus is on the Move…

The good news about Project Linus is spreading north and west of the Omaha area. Lori Johnson, of Blair, is now receiving blankets from churches, 4-H groups and individuals from Blair, Arlington, Fort Calhoun, Tekamah, Oakland and Fremont Areas. The new places that we are delivering blankets to are: Memorial Community Hospital in Blair, Masonic Eastern Star Home for Children and Jefferson House--both in Fremont. We continue to look for other places to help children also. It is amazing how many good hearted people are in the world. All you need to do is to spread the word about the wonderful work of Project Linus.

Lori Johnson

“NEW!” Project Linus Yahoo Group

The project Linus Yahoo Group is off and running now. It has 34 members already! It is a forum for us to share information, updates, great sales at our favorite craft stores, our own projects and patterns, too. As members of Project Linus we all have a great deal in common. The heart of children and the compassion to help them during a difficult time in their lives. To join go to Yahoo Groups and type in Project Linus Omaha. The site will easily pop up as : http://groups.yahoo.com/group/omahanebraskaprojectlinus. Simply join the group and enjoy the fun. Please feel free to contact me at: LuckeJohnson@hotmail.com. Please put Project Linus in the subject area so I do not miss any of your emails. I hope to welcome many of you to the Omaha Nebraska Project Linus yahoo Group soon!

Lori Johnson

Moderator--Project Linus Yahoo Group

Charitable Donations

Please remember Omaha Project Linus in your charitable donation this tax season. We are a tax-deductible, 501C3 organization and use all of our money to purchase supplies, batting, fleece, postage stamps, etc… to help distribute more blankets in the greater Omaha/Council Bluffs area. We also have matching funds available from the Iowa West Foundation. Any money or gift certificates donated will be magically doubled by the Foundation! Remember that your blankets/supplies themselves can be counted as a charitable donation, too! Contact Ginny for the tax form to submit with your taxes.

Save the Date!!! - Happy Third Birthday to Us!

It is time for Omaha Project Linus to celebrate our third birthday! It has been an amazing three years and we have a lot to celebrate!!! In this short period of time, we have donated over 10,000 blankets! AMAZING!

Please come and help us celebrate and restock our blankets. It is also a wonderful opportunity to meet and visit with other Linus blanketeers!

When? Saturday October 14, 2006 from 9-1

Where? Tangier Shrine Center

(downstairs)

2823 South 84^th Street - Omaha, Nebaraska

What do you need to bring? New, handmade, washable blankets that are already finished. OR your knitting, crocheting, or your sewing machine to make blankets there. We will also have some fleece available to tie. OR just bring yourself and a friend and enjoy some great company with lots of generous and kind-hearted individuals. Bring a snack to share if you like.

If you can’t join us for that day but would still like to contribute, we really need donations of quilt batting yarn, polar fleece, gift certificates to fabric stores, cash, etc…

For more information please call Omaha Project Linus at (402)212-3975 or email us at omahaprojectlinus@hotmail.com.

Please consider putting the following message in your local church bulletin!

*************************************************************

Omaha Project Linus, a local organization that provides new, handmade blankets of children in need, is having its Third Annual Birthday Party to be held on October 14, 2006,at the Tangier Shriner Center on 2823 South 84^th Street in Omaha from 9-1. Please bring new handmade blankets or just bring yourself and see what we are all about! Project Linus is a 100% non-profit that has provided over 10,000 security blankets to local children in less than 3 years! For more information please email omahaprojectlinus@hotmail.com or call (402)212-3975.

Some Blanket Reminders:

Please remember that we accept only blankets made with new fabric, batting, and yarn. If you have used blankets to donate, the homeless shelters are always in need of blankets.

Please check carefully for pins. Every once in a while we find a stray pin in a blanket as we are sewing on the Linus tag. Give your blanket a big hug before you drop it off!

When choosing your fabric, please keep in mind how much the kids love soft, kid-friendly fabric. They love cotton, flannel, fleece, etc…(If you like to work with a cotton front and back, please put a piece of batting in the middle to make it soft and warm.) Blankets can be any size, but smaller than 20 x 20 is hard for us to find a spot for.

If you are using binding to put your front and back together, please double check to make certain that you’ve caught both sides of the fabric. We’ve had some blankets that the back doesn’t get “caught” and it is very hard to fix.

Please be careful of dog and cat hair, too! (I know I have to be careful because my cat loves to sit on the blankets!) Some of the children have severe allergies to animals and we wouldn’t want them to feel worse!!!J

Lastly, be sure to fill out the blanket tag form when you drop off your blankets so we can keep track of who is donating. Also, indicate the number of blankets that you are donating. Thanks for everything you do!!!!!

A Little History

For those of you relatively new to our organization, let me give you a quick run down as to how we have come this far. Omaha Project Linus was officially started in October of 2003. Omaha had been part of the Lincoln Chapter prior to this. We started with only 7 blankets on hand and have donated more than 10,000 to date! Unbelievable!!! What we have is a group of amazing and devoted blanketeers and thousands of lucky children who now have a beautiful security blanket! What a wonderful combination!

Project Linus is a national organization with more than 300 chapters in cities across the United States and beyond. The organization is unique as every single person involved is a volunteer. From the National Chairperson to the Chapter Coordinators, they are all 100% volunteer.

Omaha Project Linus is made up of hundreds of blanket makers that we call “blanketeers.” Most of our blanketeers are from the Greater Omaha and Council Bluffs Area, but a few live farther away and mail blankets to us for distribution. There are five people who make sure the lovely blankets reach the kids: Ginny DeBates, Coordinator; Ann Ball, Administrator; Peggy Wolff, Transportation Specialist and Speaker; Lori Johnson, Head of donations in Washington, Burt and Dodge Counties, and Michaele Pleiss, Head of West Omaha Donations. We all have a special place for Linus in our hearts and work hard to keep the blankets moving!

As you look at our numbers and our success in the Omaha/Council Bluffs area, please pat yourself on the back! None of this would be possible without you!

A Few Thank You Notes

I am an adoption worker with Health and Human Services. We are doing some brainstorming in regard to good ideas for our adoptive children. I had access to quilts through the Foster Care Review Board and brought two with me as a set of twins were going to be adopted. They are three years old ....a boy and a girl. The little girl has considerable special needs and will be going through surgeries. I picked out a quilt with cars and trucks for the boy, and one with bright pink backing for the girl. The children loved these quilts. The court hearing was about to occur and it was getting close to their nap time. They spent the entire adoption hearing, either hugging the quilts or trying to make a bed in front of the judge's desk. It was precious. As we were discussing ideas this morning, I said I think it would be good if our adoption unit could have many quilts to use for the younger children at adoption time. I understand yours is a free and voluntary service, but we have been given a large amount of money to spend (some Federal return) and would be able to buy material for a number of quilts. Please let me know what our options are. Thank you. Miriam Dyson Adoption Specialist

Hello,

I do not know if I am contacting the correct person. Our 15 month-old son had surgery very early today at Emmanuel/Allegiant Hospital in Omaha Nebraska. As parents we were nervous (to be expected), even when it is a simple procedure.

We want to thank you so very much for the blanket that the nurse brought in for him before his surgery. It was filled with bright cheery colors and so soft and perfect in size! He took his "newly adopted" blankie with him and when he was returned to us quickly he snuggled with it.

Our son is home doing fine and he is resting on the sofa with his blanket. He seems to have really become attached to it already!! Thanking you we are!! Please help me get this thank you to those who take the time to make these for the precious little ones. God Bless you all!

Tammie D. Queen

Turin, Iowa

We recently gave a blanket to a little 5 year-old boy who had just lost his 2 year old sister to cancer. His mom was so touched by the blanket and told us that maybe it was just the thing that would help. You see this little boy had become very afraid to go to sleep at night as he was scared that he, too, would “go away” like his little sister Megan did. His mom hoped that this new, warm blanket would reassure him that it was OK to sleep and that they would all be there the next morning.

A Special Award

Omaha Project Linus was recently recognized with a wonderful award! United Way of the Midlands included Ginny DeBates in their finalists for the 2006 Volunteer of the Year award. During the ceremony they read a wonderful narrative written about Linus by Michelle Craig and Ann Ball. It was an awesome way for the volunteer community to hear of our great work for local children in need! For more information about this reward, please visit their website at http://www.uwmidlands.org/.

A Generous Donation

The Wal-Mart Store in La Vista recently donated $1,500 to Omaha Project Linus! With our matching grant from the Iowa West Foundation, this became $3,000!!! (Please thank them when you visit the La Vista Wal-Mart. I know many of you buy your fabric there!) We have used the money to purchase fleece for local children to use in our “kids helping kids” projects and for all of us to use at our birthday party and Make A Blanket Day celebrations. Other donations of cash have been received from: Mary and Ed Baldridge, Chuck and Joy Frichot, Pilot Lights, Silverstone Group, Harney Realty Company, Betty Wirtz, Stage Law Office, Cynthia Heilig, Thomas and Susan Williams, Paul and Ann Stuhr, Alice West, Scott DeBates, Tom and Michaele Pleiss Foundation, Shirley Siewert, Mike and Ann Ball, Allen and Lorene Mueller, State Farm Insurance, Karen Morrison, United Methodist Women(Oakland, NE), Phil and Mary Jo Thielen, Irene Thielen Memorial, and the many individuals who donated cash at our Make a Blanket Day in February and throughout the year.

Make A Blanket Day 2006

On the coldest day of the winter, hearts were warm inside Bryan High School as Omaha Project Linus celebrated our third annual Make a Blanket Day! An amazing crowd of generous blanketeers came and helped us collect/make more than 900 blankets that day! Almost every blanket collected was distributed that day, also. That is a lot of lucky, comforted children!

Celine Klassen was the lucky winner of the beautiful Janome Sewing machine generously donated by OK Sewing. Over the past three years, Celine has been a wonderful asset to Omaha Project Linus. We were all very excited for her!

A special thank you to Krystal Kolb, from Bryan High, and her hard-working high school students who helped put the entire event together. It was a wonderful day!!!

Free Fabric

We have a lot of donated fabric that is just waiting to made into beautiful blankets! (Sorry, but we do not have any batting to go with it.) Please join us and go “shopping” for Linus fabric! We can’t wait to see the blankets they will become!

St. Patrick’s Catholic Church Parish Hall (the white building right next to the church)

508 Angus Road

Gretna, Nebraska

Wednesday, September 6, 2006

5pm-7:30pm

Thank you to all who have donated your fabric!

Shortage of Boy Blankets

This summer we have been coming up short on boy blankets ages 9 and up. We have been so lucky to have such a phenomenal number of blankets to choose from, but when it comes time to bundle them, we have very few older boy blankets to place into the stacks. Our friends at Project Harmony said that sometimes they even have boys who leave without a blanket because they have only “girl” blankets to choose fromJ.