Loving Blankets help grieving children

The outreach project will go to Hospice, bereavement programs and local day cares.

SHERRILL >> At the annual Women’s Breakfast at Christ Church United Methodist held May 7, Judy Tastor, a social worker and bereavement counselor at Hospice in New Hartford, shared many inspirational stories about the grieving children that she works with, both individually and in group settings.

Many of these children are helped by the Loving Blankets that are made by church members and friends. The Loving Blankets mission began at Christ Church in 1997 under the name “Project Linus.” The annual Loving Blankets mission takes place during the month of April. The United Methodist Women of Christ Church provided blanket kits consisting of 1 ½ yards of flannel, 1 ½ yards of coordinating cotton/polyester fabric, batting and embroidery floss. These kits and instructions were displayed at the back of the church during the month of April and church members and friends were asked to assemble the kits and sew them into blankets. Other no-sew fleece blanket kits were available as well.

Although most of the blankets were made during the month of April, kits were also made available during the winter months. Many additional blankets, including knitted, crocheted and quilted were also made.

Tastor stayed to help dedicate a total of 93 blan- kets at the 10:30 a.m. worship service. The Loving Blankets for children of all ages will be donated to Hospice and the Bereavement Program in New Hartford, the Day Care Program at the Neighborhood Center in Utica and to the Madison County Community Action Partnership (CAP) in Canastota.

PHOTO COURTESY CHRIST CHURCH UNITED METHODIST Judy Tastor, Hospice Bereavement Counselor with the display of Loving Blankets.