Homeless Remembrance Blanket Project Newsletter

November 2024 News

We love receiving your handcrafted blankets each year for the #memorialblanket event on December 21. Each blanket is clearly made with love and compassion for the unhoused individuals who will receive them immediately following the display at Independence Hall in Philadelphia, PA.

While we especially love receiving blankets from all over the world, we unfortunately don’t have the storage space for all of them. Thankfully, our good friends at the Southeastern Pennsylvania Synod in Philadelphia have agreed to store blankets shipped from outside Pennsylvania. This arrangement allows us to focus on storing blankets for our local communities.

When you complete your blankets this year, you can:

• Deliver them directly to the Santa House on the Square in Carlisle, PA from December 10–20, between 3:30 and 5:30 pm,
• Bring them with you to the #memorialblanket event at Independence Hall in Philadelphia on December 21, or
• If you are out of state, ship them to:

#memorialblanket

Memorial Blankets

SEPA

7241 Germantown Ave

Philadelphia, PA 19119

We still plan to hire a truck to transport blankets collected in Carlisle, PA, to Philadelphia, so donations to support this year’s event are greatly appreciated. Please use the button below to lend your financial support.

What do you do when a donor wants to give #memorialblanket a multitude of sheets? Well, if your creative senses tingle like ours, you turn those plain sheets into works of visual art!

Volunteers, including Bonnie Tweedy Shaw, recently gathered behind the First Presbyterian Church of Carlisle, PA, to put pen—actually, fabric markers in this case—to cotton, creating unique designs, knots, and pictures that will later be used as quilting squares. Those in attendance even received a complimentary Halloween book written by Phillis Orenyo and illustrated by Chad Bruce as a thank-you for their efforts.

The Homeless Remembrance Blanket Project is certainly focused on providing practical warmth to the unhoused with the blankets you create, but it’s the beauty you add through your designs that fills these blankets with their most important quality—love!

Would you like to do something wonderful with your time on December 21? We have a great idea for you!

Putting together the #memorialblanket display each year takes a dedicated team of volunteers. Wondering what to expect from your day in Philadelphia? Here’s a breakdown of where your efforts will be most valuable:

• Set up blankets: 10 am - noon
• Place candles: 10 am - noon
• Meet and greet: noon - 3 pm, 3 pm - 5 pm, and 5 pm - 7 pm
• Fold blankets: 5 pm - 7 pm
• Collect candles: 5 pm - 7 pm

If you represent an organization that can help distribute these blankets to unhoused persons, please be on-site to collect them by 6:15 pm.

If you're interested in signing up for any of these roles, please reach out to Pat LaMarche at epicjourney10@gmail.com or click the button below to create your email.