Please visit our new location to keep up-to-date on “Blanketing DC with Love.”

Karen & Odell, who's church's youth donated 22 blankets, finish packing Karen's VW's Beetle "Clementine" with 136 blankets for Community Family Life Services! Photo by Megan Seldon @ NGS.

Over the last four years, we’ve received 1,104 blankets that have been donated to local DC area charities. In 2012 the “Blanketing DC with Love” project collected 390 blankets — more blankets this year than any of the previous three years! Blankets were donated to the following DC-area charities who work on a variety of programs including the resettlement of refugees, housing for homeless families, and other initiatives for individuals requiring assistants:

1. Lutheran Social Services LSSNCA.org
2. Community Family Life Service CFLSDC.org
3. Martha’s Table MarthasTable.org

A huge thank you to all who contributed to the effort including individual donations from family, friends, extended friends/colleagues at work, and our sponsors. We cannot sustain the vision of helping others locally without you!

Source: TheDailyJournal.com, September 3, 2011

There are so many ways to give back/make an impact. My niece, Laura, who was “crowned” Miss Vineland in celebration of the 150th anniversary of Vineland, New Jersey, created a way to give back by collecting 3,000 pairs of shoes from her community which were donated to the Salvation Army to help people in need.

The following was noted in Vineland’s TheDailyJournal.com on September 3, 2011:

With support from the community, Miss Vineland 2011 Laura Huffman collected more than 3,000 pairs of shoes, which were donated to the Salvation Army to help people in need. “I was so grateful for all the contributions and how the community of Vineland really came together and made a difference in the lives of the less fortunate,” she said. Above, Huffman has some fun as her father, Tim Huffman, uses a tractor to load a some of the donations into a truck for transport to the Salvation Army.

Cherine making people smile with her hot dog hat during SLA's 2010 Annual Conference.

Why the “crazy” hats, I am asked. Well, it all started with pains, screaming in my body in late 2005.  I finally listened to them in late winter 2006, deciding to find out why. I discovered that I was trying to make everyone happy, to be someone I did not want to be, to follow a path that was not leading to contentment. I turned my life around by doing two (2) major things:

1. Yoga (making time for something that I had done in 1998—I felt great, breathed better and slower, and was calm, and had a straight posture, all good stuff!).
2. Working at Hasbro Children’s Hospital as a volunteer, reading to children in the clinics — a desire from years  before.

As a Hasbro Children’s Hospital Volunteer, I was in the “Read to me” program, a national program that has theme based books and crafts (butterflies, clowns, flowers, trucks, etc). A book is given to each child at their “well” visit. My first day was March 20th, honoring Dr. Seuss’s Birthday (albeit a little late). I wore the Cat in the Hat hat and bow, provided by the Child Life Department. Being my creative and innovative self, I provided my own funky cat earrings (I have quite a collection of earrings!). I was in my glory and element animatedly reading books that I love to very sick children in the Inpatient room. I captivated about 20 children hooked up to IV’s and other machinery, distracting them from their serious woes for nearly 30 minutes.  At the end of this successful endeavor, I handed out brand new books to each child there and then visited other children in the rooms. On the way back to the Volunteer Office, the Family Resource Specialist involved in the program asked me if I had hats at home. I said yes. She said, enthusiastically, wear them!

Thus, my wearing hats, holiday, themed, colorful or WHATEVER, was encouraged, and I have continued  to wear them ever since. Why not?? After all, the first thing anyone sees when walking is your head. I have brought many a smile, smirk, and squirm with my hats — all of which gets someone, child and adult, to forget their pain, for even a little while. This is my passion and gift. I am feeding my soul.  The rewards working with local charities are priceless. I cannot find anything better than the healing power of laughter for any ills.

Karen, thanks for encouraging me to write about it. Thanks for doing what you do with Blanketing DC with Love!

Article by Cherine Whitney
President of SLA’s Rhode Island Chapter, 2008-2010

Thanks to the generous contributions from family and friends as well as the generous donation from Thrivent Lutheran that Pauline Anunciacion obtained, we were able to donate a total of 212 blankets to the local DC-area charities listed below.

1) Community Family Life Services | URL: www.cflsdc.org

Provides transitional housing for families. Happy to receive homemade blankets. Prefers variety of types, so clients can select what best suits them.

Contact: Kelly Barry, Manager of Development, kbarry@cflsdc.org or 202-347-0511  ext. 415
Blankets donated: 88

2) Lutheran Social Services of the National Capital Area | URL: www.lssnca.org

They have two primary groups in need of blankets. They will take as many as we are willing to give:

Refugees: Resettle about 250-300 refugees each year, so the blankets would be very useful for helping furnish their new apartments and making them feel more “homey.” For this program, the blankets could be made of any material.

Teens & Young Adults with HIV/AIDS: Newly expanded program with teens and young adults with HIV/AIDS. The teens will be participating in weekend leadership retreats in a camp setting. Because of the setting, flannel is probably the best material.

Contact: Summer Parrish, Director of Development and Communications, parrishs@lssnca.org or 703-698-5026 ext. 138
Blankets donated: 120

3) Habitat for Humanity | URL: www.habitat.org

Build homes for families. Provided blankets for a family moving into a home built for them by Habitat for Humanity.

Contact: Pauline Anunciacion, Pilgrim Lutheran Church
Blankets donated: 4

Corporate Sponsor

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans exists to help its members achieve financial security and give back to their congregations, institutions and the broader community. The organization and its affiliates offer a broad range of financial products and services including life insurance, annuities, mutual funds, disability income insurance, bank products and more. As a not-for-profit membership organization, Thrivent Financial also sponsors national outreach programs and activities that enable its members to demonstrate their care for others through support of congregations, schools, charitable organizations and individuals in need. For more than 100 years, Thrivent Financial has been guided by its members’ shared Lutheran traditions and Christian values. Today, these same traditions and values form the foundation of an organization dedicated to improving the quality of life of those it serves.

Individual Contributors

Pauline Anunciacion
Tom & Loretta Beaumont
Erin Clougherty
Christine Du Bois
Karen Huffman (that’s me)
Janis Larsen
Sue Pierce
Walda Tucker
Cammie Weaver

So let’s begin with Penny’s story whom I met through my professional knowledge management association and learned about her commitment to the rights of animals and her walk for Farm Sanctuary.

Penny Sympson (United States, Illinois):

For the last 20 years, I have boycotted companies that test their products on animals. These companies force animals to endure the pain and suffering of having cleaning products and cosmetics placed in their eyes, among other inhumane treatment. It disgusts me that these companies continue to test on animals when non-animal testing methods exist. To find out which companies test on animals, visit the National Anti-Vivisection Society.

Five years ago I became a vegetarian because I decided animals should not suffer for my benefit. I regret that I have not been a vegetarian my entire life. I took out a $120,000 life insurance policy with the American Humane Society named as the beneficiary.

I thought I was doing everything I could to help animals. A year ago, however, my 15 year old nephew commented on my Facebook  posts. “Aunt Penny, I don’t think animal cruelty will stop even in my life time.” That saddened me as I had hoped cruelty would end in my lifetime. How realistic was my hope when the next generation had no hope?  Future life insurance money isn’t a comfort to the hundreds of thousands of animals enduring cruelty now.

It was clear I wasn’t doing enough and I had to get more involved.  A friend told me about the Farm Sanctuary and their 2010 Walk for Animals in Chicago. The Farm Sanctuary is a national, nonprofit animal protection organization. Each year they rescue, rehabilitate and provide lifelong care for hundreds of animals rescued from factory farms, stockyards and slaughterhouses. In addition to operating the shelters, they work to gain legal protection for animals used in food production and to raise public awareness about factory farm cruelty and cruelty-free food alternatives.

Farm Sanctuary Walk, 2010

I participated in the 2010 Chicago Walk on October 2. I was only able to raise $205. A friend raised $400 and I met a woman that raised $575. One hundred people walked down Michigan Avenue and through Chicago’s Gold Coast. I met many compassionate people and now have a little more hope. I plan to remain vigilant and continue to be more active. I might not change society in my lifetime, but I’m sure going to try.

I have a choice. Animals do not. I choose to create a legacy of kindness. What legacy do you choose to leave?

“Those alive today are the generations that came to know better. We have the burden and the opportunity of living in the moment when the critique of factory farming broke into the popular consciousness. We are the ones of whom it will be fairly asked, What did you do when you learned the truth about eating animals?” ~ Jonathan Safran Foer (American author)

I think many of us who strive to improve our spit within the world often wonder if we make any difference. I have to believe (and hope) we do somehow for some living beings. Although we may never know the impact we make, it’s important we keep trying.

For additional links related for Farm Sanctuary, commentaries, and books, see Del.icio.us posts categorized as Farms + Compassion. If you have Internet sites to share, add Del.icio.us tags Farms and Compassion.

If you’d like to post a comment or write a blog entry for my site, let me know. I’ll sign you up on my site. Email me: dcblankets [at] cybersailors.org with a username and your email address.

Photo taken by friend Tom Wiggins.

I recently walked around DC with a friend. We discovered the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in the International Trade Education. I was inspired by what Wilson (December 28, 1856 – February 3, 1924) expressed: “You are here to enrich the world, and you impoverish yourself if you forget the errand.” This is at the root of why Blanketing DC with Love got started. Although we may never know who we help ultimately, we are here to make a difference in the lives we touch, not simply to exist to make a living.

In 2008, we set a goal of 365 (or a blanket a day for a year), which we surpassed! In 2009, we didn’t set a goal and collected another 130 that were donated to two local charities. Wouldn’t it be great to go for the higher goal again!?! To do this, it takes many people’s commitment to make this happen. We accept all kinds of blankets — handmade, quilts, store-bought, giveaways, etc. If you have blankets to donate for this year’s efforts, please contact us directly dcblankets [at] cybersailors.org. Looking forward to a inspirational year!