Blankets are made by many volunteers, who donate both fabric and time. Many of the volunteers have been with the program for more than 10 years. Many volunteers make several blankets each month.

Anyone, regardless of age, can make and donate blankets to Project Linus. Madison Chapter Project Linus volunteers pick up the blankets from the various drop points around Madison and Dane County. Once collected, volunteers count, inspect, attach a label indicating the first name and city where the blanket was made and sort the blankets by size to fill the hospitals requests.

“We rely solely on donations from the community, whether its fabric, blankets, money or time,” Madigan said. “Without the generous support, we would not be able to donate approximately 500 blankets each month.”

On average, one blanket can cost between $10 and $25 depending on the type of fabric and work involved.

“When you factor that in to the approximate 500 blankets each month, that gives you a picture of the volunteers’ dedication to helping children who are ill or are in traumatic situations,” Madigan said.