Homeless Memorial Blanket Project
Schoolchildren in Maine craft and contribute blankets for families without homes
• Photos and videos of children in classrooms designing and sewing blankets: http://www.tinyurl.com/maine-schoolkids-blankets
• People across the US with sewing, knitting, crocheting, and quilting skills are invited to join the project: Find a state at https://memorialblanket.org
WASHINGTON, DC — Children in Maine schools are now participating in the Homeless Memorial Blanket Project by creating blankets made in classrooms to be contributed to families without homes.
The project is a nationwide effort to encourage and compile homemade blankets for distribution to unhoused individuals and families.
“Children are naturally creative and empathetic and drawn to help others,” said Maire Trombley, 5th grade teacher at Wentworth School in Scarborough, Maine. “When they heard about this project, they were all in. And it’s been an amazing combination of life skills: kindness first but also resourcefulness, creativity and machinery. The kids learned about the math, art and history of quilting and are designing, cutting and sewing themselves.”
Photos and videos of children designing and sewing quilt squares for group blankets in three 5th grade classes have been posted online: http://www.tinyurl.com/maine-schoolkids-blankets
“It’s a hands-on group project that is empowering children to do something about an issue that matters to them,” said Ms. Trombley. “You can feel the love in their quilt squares and knowing our final product will help humanize and bring attention to people in need is a great feeling — one I imagine will stick with these kids for a long time to come.”
5th-graders at Wentworth School expressed their enthusiasm for the Homeless Memorial Blanket Project and their deep concern for the blankets’ recipients.
“This project is making blankets for people who need it and it’s going to be sent to Washington DC,” said Benedita Alberto. “I like doing this because it’s helping others and I have kind of experienced this before. I am an immigrant and we had to be in a new place and couldn’t work. We would have been homeless but other people helped us.”
“I like making this quilt because I get to put my own creativity into something that someone will cherish and love and it will help keep them warm,” said Clara Humble.
“The Maine students and I had zoom meetings to chat about homelessness,” said Pat LaMarche, founder of the Homeless Memorial Blanket Project. “They were attentive and inquisitive. Kids at 10 or 11 years old understood the need to change the status quo. They responded with empathy and in the end asked me how they could get more kids like themselves involved.”
“That’s the attitude that saves the world — one fifth grade math class at a time,” said Ms. LaMarche.
The Homeless Memorial Blanket Project is preparing a display of blankets to cover 9,000 square feet of the West Lawn of the US Capitol in Washington, DC on Dec. 21, 2022.
The project has participants in all 50 states, Puerto Rico, and the District of Columbia. The most active states are currently Pennsylvania, Maine, Massachusetts, and South Carolina.
Each state is being asked to make at least 100 blankets, providing ten for the Capitol Lawn display and donating another 90 or more to outreach programs in their area. Typical blankets dimensions are 35″ x 80″ and 60″ x 80″ with a variety of fabrics, fibers, and colors.
The Homeless Memorial Blanket Project is hosted by the Charles Bruce Foundation (https://charlesbrucefoundation.com), which is located in central Pennsylvania. The Dec. 21 display will be an arts installation by this nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization.
CONTACT
Scott McLarty, 202-878-2112, scott@memorialblanket.org
MORE INFORMATION
Homeless Memorial Blanket Project on Facebook (national group)
To find a state Facebook group, type Homeless Remembrance Blanket and the state’s name in Search
Press release: Homeless Memorial Blanket Project, providing homemade blankets for individuals and families without homes, plans display on the West Lawn of the Capitol in DC on Dec. 21
March 16, 2022
Nonprofit Seeks Artisans Across US to Help the Unhoused
Daily Kos, February 6, 2022