UMW at Hope UMC 'Blankets' Children in Love

For the past two years, the United Methodist Women (UMW) at Hope United Methodist Church in Sacramento have been making quilted blankets for Project Linus – which gives them to local children in need of comfort, some of whom are in hospitals. The group undertook the project shortly after the hurricane in Haiti, when the national UMW asked the local group to join in sending thousands of blankets to the children of Haiti.
 
Last year the Hope UMW contributed more than 150 blankets. This year the group has dwindled to "just a handful," to quote member Betty Jo Rose. However, "We continue to sew, and by the end of this past November, we have given 100!" she enthuses.
 
The project truly is a ministry, as the tiny group must pay for batting, and sometimes backing fabric and thread, from just two or three pocketbooks (there is plenty of fabric for the tops). But the women believe they receive more than they give.
 
"While we do not see the children who receive these blankets, we do send our love, as well as our prayers for these young children," Rose says, and adds, "We feel blessed!"