This article was originally published in the spring 2013 Harker Quarterly.

With the knowledge that there is nothing like a favorite “blankie” to comfort a suffering child, grade 7 middle school students in Karina Momary’s and Julie Pinzás’ advisories teamed up in early February to create blankets for donation to the South Bay chapter of Project Linus.

A volunteer-driven nonprofit organization giving blankets to children who are seriously ill or living in shelters, Project Linus works to provide a sense of security, warmth and comfort through the donation of handmade, washable blankets lovingly created by volunteer makers, or “blanketeers.”

The blanket creation for Project Linus was the middle school’s community service project for this year. Working in pairs, students produced 12 blankets for donation to the local branch of Project Linus.

To date, Project Linus has delivered more than 4,000,000 security blankets to children around the world and has nearly 400 chapters in the United States. Although the organization originally donated blankets to pediatric cancer patients, recipients now include any child who is seriously ill or traumatized in some way.

“What a great opportunity to be able to use our advisory time to make a collaborative impact on our community to help children in need of comfort,” said Pinzás.