A small group of Joan Martin fifth-graders in Hobart sat on a classroom floor Monday and pulled tabs through the ends of tassel blankets.
“It sounded fun. I like crafts a lot,” said 10-year-old Lexi Klinedinst, who partnered on her blanket with Bonnie Aspros.
They’re part of a school group called Brickie Leaders, which does community service projects after school.
These blankets are destined for Project Linus of Northwest Indiana, which distributes colorful blankets to children who are ill, or are going through traumatic events. Some had tigers on them, others sheep, hearts, dinosaurs, and paw prints.
Sixteen-year-old Aundrea Munoz, of Crown Point, launched the project earlier last year with a goal of providing 800 blankets to Project Linus, based in Valparaiso. She needs about 75 more to complete her project in June. The blankets vary from the simple tassel variety to handmade crocheted blankets.
“My mom and I gather people in the community and they contribute. Eight women crocheted blankets,” she said.
Aundrea posts her progress on social media and attracts support from more “blanketeers.”
Rachel Sieffert, a Joan Martin teacher and co-sponsor of Brickie Leaders, met Aundrea when she was 5 and participated in a Munster day camp where Sieffert worked.
When she and Brickie Leaders co-sponsor Heather Paulson learned of Aundrea’s blanket project, they decided the group could help.
The students finished 20 blankets on Monday.
“I like crafts and I’ve never done blankets before,” said Bonnie Aspros, 10.
Besides the students at Joan Martin, Aundrea said she’s received helped from local Girl Scout troops and a day camp. Many people see her posts on social media and volunteer to make blankets, she said.
Munoz, who’s a junior at the Culver Academies, a private boarding school in Culver, doesn’t do the project for school service credits. She does it out of a sense of responsibility and caring.
Her mother, Elizabeth Munoz, said she and her husband encouraged all three of their children to select service projects to better their community. “It’s just something we do,” she said.
Locally, Project Linus has distributed blankets to Community Hospital in Munster, Methodist Hospitals, St. Jude House in Crown Point, Haven House in Hammond, and the Caring Place and Family Focus in Valparaiso.
Hobart Superintendent Peggy Buffington thanked Aundrea for her determination to complete the blanket project. “The kindness you demonstrate is absolutely amazing,” she said when presenting her a certificate of appreciation.
Carole Carlson is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
