Thank You notes

Below are a few of the thank you notes and emails the Philadelphia chapter has received. I wanted to share these thank you's with everyone who continues to support the Philadelphia chapter, so you see the impact that you make!

Bright Blessings!

Sent: Tuesday, July 24, 2007 10:26 AM

Subject: Thank you from a recipient of two blankets

My son Vincent was born prematurely at 27 weeks gestation at Pennsylvania Hospital on June 21, 2007. That monday, he was transferred to CHOP because he needed surgery. During his stay, he had a beautiful handmade crocheted blanket and a week later an adorable handmade quilt in his incubator. I saw that they were donations from Project Linus, and I admired them because I also love to make things (I'm a knitter).

Sadly Vincent passed away on July 12th. CHOP gave me his blankets from project Linus and I TREASURE them. They are some of the only material things I have left to remember him by. I just wanted to let you know that your project makes a difference not only to children but their parents. When I am feeling a little more together I hope to get involved with your charity.

Thank you from the bottom of my heart,

Jacqueline

Hi Janet:

Thanks for checking in. We should need more blankets the beginning of August. We currently have 20 Karen refugees arriving in the next 3 weeks. Our storage rooms are full to capacity and with this next group we should be quickly going through the blankets that we have. Could we schedule a time that 2nd week in August to pick up 10 more? Thanks so much.

I have also begun talking to our ESL department about distributing blankets to needy mothers and children. I will probably start asking for 15 a month starting in the fall.

Again we appreciate this great donation to the agency's clients. The quality of what you have sent us is wonderful and its really been great to give individuals something so beautiful and useful.

Tara Swartzendruber-Landis
Program Director
Nationalities Senior Center
1216 Arch Street
Philadelphia, PA 19107
(215)893-8400 ext. 1545

Nationalities Service Center: serving the needs of immigrants and refugees for 85 years

This thank you letter was forwarded to us from National Headquarters.

My name is Teresa and I live in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania with my husband and 3 children.

This past July 2006 we opened our hearts and our home to a beautiful 7 1/2 month old foster baby named Shanay. I picked her up at Children's Hospital in Philadelphia. She had been hospitalized for 3rd degree burns on her hand.

She has been in the foster care system since birth. Our family received a phone call saying they had an emergency situation and if we could take this little one when she was released from the hospital. She was not going back to the previous home. We said yes immediately.

When we brought Shanay home we noticed how extremely content she was, almost too much for a little baby. We came to realize she had never received attention or love. She had shut down emotionally at 7 1/2 mos. old. As time went on and we poured love into her she just blossomed. We did notice that the two things that she received in the hospital which was a pacifier and a warm fleece blanket from a loving person were the two items that offered her security. I believe that when she entered that hospital she had no one and nothing to attach to but this blanket truly gave her something to cling to and feel warmth from. Shanay is 10 mos. old now and loves her blankie so much. Nap time and bed time she just craves it. It is a beautiful thing to see her face light up when we hand it to her.

I hadn't seen the project linus tag on the blanket at first but when I did I had to express a thank you to who ever may have lovingly made this for a special little one and to tell them how much this blanket has blessed this little girls life.

If this could be passed along to at least the chapter that might of been responsible for Shanay's blanket I would greatly appreciate it. The blanket was given the end of July 2006 at Children's Hospital in Philadelphia. It is a purple fleece with bears on it! We don't let it out of our sight!

Thanks you once again.
Teresa

P.S. This had encouraged me to want to get our family involved in this wonderful organization.

Donna,
I would just like to say thank you from the bottom of my heart for the Linus Blanket that my 4 year old son received while he was a patient at CHOP. We were all terrified at the suddenness of the events, and especially my son Sean. He had fallen and broken his arm and had to have surgery to put pins in his elbow. I know that other children in this hospital are much sicker and more traumatized than my son was, but the look in a 4 year old's eyes when he is scared to death really cuts through you like a knife. I was totally unaware of this blanket program until we came home and found the blanket among our belongings. My son has since cherished that blanket, and always remarks that he got that while he was in the "hoppital". He loves that blanket and it was even in his favorite color. I just wanted to say thank you for the one thing that my son leaned on, slept on, slept under and still does to this day. I wa s so touched by this program that I have contacted my local chapter to start crocheting blankets to donate. Thanks again for the "courage" of the blanket that helped my little one through one of the toughest times in his life.
Sincerely,
Kristin
Sean's mom

The letter below was received at Project Linus National from a family effected by Hurricane Katrina.

Good morning,

I am not writing to receive information, but to say THANK YOU!

My Children and I evacuated to Houston when New Orleans had been threatened by Hurricane Katrina. Of course as usual, we left with the mindset that we
would return home in a few days. As the day dawned and the news came that the levees indeed did not hold and New Orleans was under water, it also dawned on me as a Mother that I had not prepared for the inability to go home again. As the horror of the situation back home began in sink in, so did the uncertainty of our future.

I am a single mother of three school aged children. Benjamin 16, Loren - he's 14, and Lindsey, 10. They were wanting answers, and I was only full of questions. We had arrived in Houston to a hotel room my Mom had called from California and reserved for us. We had a place to stay for three days. The weight of our situation grew as the uncertain hours passed.

I had left home with my three children and 6 show dogs. I quickly got on the computer at the hotel and got word out to other Australian Shepherd breeders
around the country that we needed help dispersing our dogs. Folks came and got them and placed them in new permanent homes for us. I was so very
grateful, but my daughter cried with the parting of every pup. I told her there would come a day when she would be able to have a dog to show again, but right now, it was better for everyone for them to go to new homes.

My boys were so unhappy at having left their schools and their friends, and wanted to go home. They were struggling with having no home to return to and
with knowing that I had allot to deal with. We had no place to live, and I had no job. Surely this was some kind of joke right? I mean our lives had been swept out from under us, and it was only a couple of days ago all had been normal.

A woman with a large house in Katy Texas sent a friend to our hotel to find a family that needed help, and we moved in here the next day. After a week of
not knowing where to go, we now have a temporary home. I set about the process of enrolling my kids in local schools to avoid them failing the year, and
to provide some sense of normalcy to their lives.

I then paired up with a friend who had evacuated to this area also, and we returned to New Orleans to see what we could salvage if anything. The last
thing my daughter said to me when we left was; "mama, please bring my quilt back with you." Our house was flooded and everything was crawling with mold. I could not bring her her favorite blanket........and after seeing our home like
that, I was wishing I had a favorite blanket!
I returned to Houston with very little from our house, but had tried to take something from each child's room, something that belonged to them.

A few days later my oldest som Ben came home from his new High school and said: "Mama, I have something for you." I looked up and he had in his hand the most beautiful quilt! I asked: "For me? Where did this come from?"

He stated that he had been called to the office at school and told he could pick out a blanket for himself. They had been sent by "Project Linus." I had
never heard of it and had no idea it existed. He told the office staff: "My Mom would like this one", and instead of taking one for himself he brought me the most beautiful quilt in the world!

I cannot tell you what happened inside of me that day. HOPE ran through me right then and there. I held that blanket close and felt the love that had gone through the hands that made it. It was an amazing experience. I thanked God right then for the folks who made these blankets and arranged for those of us who have no answers, to have what is most important in this life, hope, love and comfort. A couple of weeks later my Daughter Lindsey came running in from school shouting: "Look Mom!" She too had been called into the office at her elementary school and had been allowed to pick out a blanket. Hers had horses all over it and they are her real true love..........she was truly blessed! I couldn't bring her quilt from home, but she now has one "just for her."

These days Thank You just seems so small. But I am writing to say those small words from the depths of my heart. THANK YOU to all involved with Project
Linus! You are "touching" lives! May God bless you abundantly with every stitch!

Nanette,
Benjamin, Loren, and Lindsey

Nationally, Project Linus sent
25,519 blankets to be delivered to the hurricane victims. Thank you to all!

Below is a Thank you from our Covington/St. Tammany Louisiana Chapter that was received at national. The Philadelphia chapter sent blankets to this chapter.

Dear Mary,
I am so sorry that this e-mail is getting to you so late, but it seems as if things just won't ever be the same. Please do me a favor and pass this message on to the chapters who so lovingly gave when we really needed their help.
I want them to know that Darlene and I thank them from the bottom of our hearts. It's hard to believe that it will soon be Christmas. New Orleans and the surrounding areas still look like war zones-no lights at night, still a lot of blue roofs and very few stores opened because most people are either gone or have no money. People are really trying to get in the holiday spirit.
Makes the saying "Jesus is the reason for the season" ring so true!!!
You will get a more detailed report in the future, but I thought I would let
everyone know approximately where the majority of blankets went:

100    Children's Hospital (re-opened and transferred 80% of children from various hospitals in Baton Rouge in mid Oct)
100    St. Tammany Hospital (took Oschner overflow pediatric ward in N.O.)
100     Slidell Evacuation Centers OakHarbor, Immanuel Baptist Church and Aldersgate Methodist
50     Lakeview Regional Pediatric Ward and NICU
40     Oschner NICU
20     St Tammany Fire Station #4569 (Families lost everything)
27     Individuals

I have gotten phone calls from Ronald McDonald's House, Angels Place and Fairhaven's Children's Home (all were destroyed, but are rebuilding) and have put blankets in reserve for them. This leaves us with approximately 75 blankets. However, Hosanna Lutheran will be donating soon and so will several other organizations.

We could not have done this without your help. I wish I could tell you the
stories of the faces and the tears I shed when they asked the question "Is
this really all mine?". Most of these children own a few pieces of clothing from Goodwill, but now, because of you, they own a blanket made with love from "Project Linus".

Thanks and Love

Julie & Darlene

Philadelphia Chapter

Philadelphia, PA