COVERED with CARE

Church’s blanket ministry comforts ‘people’s hearts’

By LINDA M. LINONIS

Vindicator Staff Writer

CANFIELD — To comfort, warm, and convey a caring heart: This wraps up the meaning of 117 fleece blankets made by Western Reserve United Methodist Church members.

Wanda Marland and Diane Wise coordinated the Comfort Blanket Ministry that involved the entire church membership in one way or another.

Today, a group of 10 church members will travel to Berea Children’s Home and Family Services in Berea, Ohio, which was selected as the main recipient. Ten blankets are earmarked for Sojourner House in Youngstown.

Marland said she saw a fleece blanket in 2005, a gift from a church to her sister-in-law who had medical problems. “I thought it was a wonderful idea,” she said.

When she suggested the project to the pastor, the Rev. Russ Adams, he encouraged her to “go for it.” And then he challenged the group to make 100 blankets, which they did and made 17 more.

The project started the week after Easter, April 12. Marland said the ministry group had four workshops to demonstrate the blanket-making procedure and to make blankets.

Wise said the workshops averaged between 13 to 20 participants. “Some people came and then made blankets at home," she said. “Some people made one, and some people made as many as eight.”

“We had one brave man make one,” Wise said. “Mostly women, teens and families made them,” Marland said.

Whether the blanket-makers made them from kits or “from scratch,” the materials and method are the same. Marland and Wise explained the blankets are made from fleece material, a printed side of 11‚Ñ2 yards of material and a solid color, also 11‚Ñ2 yards.

“There’s no sewing involved,” Wise said, noting “that is the best part.”

A 5-inch square pattern is placed in each corner, showing the blanket-maker where to cut the 1-inch strips; then the pattern is moved along the length of blanket so the strips are cut. Then the strips are knotted, forming a fringe along the borders of the blankets.

“They’re warm and cozy,” Wise said of the blankets. And that’s the feeling they gave the blanket-makers as they gathered at the workshops that included food and fellowship.

Last Sunday at services, the finished blankets were draped over pews in the sanctuary at Western Reserve UMC, where they were blessed by the Rev. Mr. Adams. “People put their hands on the blankets as they were blessed,” Wise said, noting they wanted to send off the blankets with the blessing and their love.

The blankets, decorating the pews and scattered around the contemporary sanctuary, created a rainbow of color. Designs ran the gamut — African animals, angels, Hello Kitty, sunflowers, soccer balls, Dalmatians, footballs, Strawberry Shortcake, frogs, ducks, teddy bears, the Browns, owls, hearts, Air Force and a Thomas Kinkaid watercolor look-alike.

“It’s about showing someone in need you care,” Marland said. But, she pointed out, “Everyone benefits.” The recipients have a warm, cozy blanket, and the givers felt warm and cozy, too.

The two women said the project was well-supported. “It touched people’s hearts,” Wise said. “People knew it was going to a wonderful cause,” Marland said.

In addition to the blankets, the church membership amassed nearly $1,000 in donations of such items as personal-hygiene products, books, stuffed animals, coloring books and art and school supplies, which also will be donated to Berea Children’s Home and Family Services. The agency provides home and community services including family support and abuse prevention, juvenile justice affiliated, work and employment, early childhood, residential treatment and foster care. It serves some 9,000 families annually.

linonis@vindy.com