By Nancy Young
Enquirer contributor

Eighth-graders Sarah Janosik (left) and Clare McMahon tape down guidelines for cutting fleece to help make blankets at Lakota Plains Junior School Thursday. The blankets are donated to children through the Linus Project. The Cincinnati Enquirer/MEGGAN BOOKER

LIBERTY TOWNSHIP - The comic strip character Linus is known for the blanket he drags everywhere.

"Project Linus,'' named for this Charles Schultz Peanuts character, donates handmade blankets to needy, homeless or ill children, as well as those caught in traumatic situations.

Project Linus Cincinnati recently provided blankets to Reach Out Lakota and the Butler County Head Start program, thanks to a project by students at Lakota Plains Junior School in Liberty Township.

Student council members, under the direction of Plains teachers Christy Walter and Sarah Eckhart, organized a blanket workshop. "Our PTO donated the materials, and the kids measured the fleece for each blanket and cut and knotted ends into fringes. They worked with a variety of colors and designs of fleece to make age-appropriate blankets," Walter said.

"Students enjoyed the project, and said they could appreciate the comfort the blankets will bring to other kids by feeling the soft fleece and seeing the bright colors," she continued. "We hope our donation will provide comfort and a sense of security to kids in difficult situations."

"I really like to get involved in things that will benefit other people in the community because it makes me feel good," said Drew Beaulieu, 13, an 8th grade Plains student from Liberty Township. "I think this is a great project."

A 1995 Parade magazine article was the basis for Project Linus. The magazine profiled a young cancer patient, who said a security blanket helped her endure chemotherapy. Denver resident Karen Loucks decided to provide homemade security blankets to Denver's Rocky Mountain Children's Cancer Center, and Project Linus was born.

Project Linus, with nearly 350 chapters, has donated more than 830,000 blankets in less than 10 years.

West Chester resident Kathleen Miller founded the local affiliate three years ago. To date, the Cincinnati chapter has donated more than 5000 blankets.

"We give blankets to hospitals, social service agencies, homeless shelters, summer camps and police departments. The only condition we place on a gift is that the blankets must be given free of charge to a deserving child," Miller said. "This is the only blanket many of these children have ever owned. Each Project Linus blanket is new and handmade. Knitted or crocheted, quilted or tied, volunteers' blankets are lovely and very well-made - ones that we would be proud to pass to our own children, grandchildren, or friends."

For more information visit www.projectlinus.org or call Kathleen Miller at Project Linus Cincinnati, (513) 777-3996.