JACKSON – As “Peanuts” character Linus Van Pelt waited for The Great Pumpkin, he clutched the very thing that always provided him with comfort and never left his side — his security blanket.
Due to the efforts of the Bat Shalom Hadassah chapter of Jackson and the Monroe Township chapter of Project Linus, that same source of comfort will be available to premature newborns through the handmade blankets those organizations have on display at the Jackson Library this month.
“Hadassah is committed to the ideal of repairing the world and helping others, regardless of race, religion or ethnicity,” Bat Shalom Hadassah member Elaine Blatt said .
Hadassah is a Zionist organization that works to raise funds for Israel and provide local community service.
Members of Hadassah have contributed their creations to Project Linus since 2009.
Blatt estimates that 12 to 15 blankets are donated to CentraState Medical Center, Freehold Township, and to Kimball Medical Center, Lakewood, every month. The blankets are used to cover premature babies who have been placed in an isolette (incubator), a clear plastic enclosed crib that keeps the child warm.
“The appreciation we get from the nurses when we bring the blankets is just one of those heartwarming joys that we get when we do this,” Blatt said. “They usually say how they are out of blankets for the babies and that they are so glad they can count on us.”
Named after the aforementioned “Peanuts” character, Project Linus is a nationwide program to provide handmade security blankets and afghans to gravely ill, injured or needy children. “Blanketeers” all over the United States knit blankets and have them distributed to hospitals and shelters .“ We have a community action committee in our chapter, and since I had been doing a lot of knitting, I thought this would be a good collaboration,” Blatt said.
About 18 women work with Hadassah and Project Linus to produce the blankets, although not all of them are members of Hadassah. Blatt said that depending on the style of a blanket, it can take up to a month to make just one.
“We have one woman making quilted blankets, which is much quicker to do, so she can make up to three blankets in a month,” Blatt said.
Other styles employed by the women include crocheting and knitting.
Blankets by Gilda Brandman, Trudy Prager, Ellen Petersen, Jean Castellano, Myrna Lipton, Elaine Blatt, Rhea Borofsky, Denise DeCarolis, Carole Fineman, Miriam Appelbaum, Cathy Staffeir, Ann Polokow and Harriet Schwartz are on display at the Jackson library until the end of the month.
“The blankets are so beautiful that we just wanted to display them for once, so people can see our ladies’work,” Blatt said. “The women are very dedicated. We hope people will go look at this display.”