SNUG LIFE

Every kid needs a blanket.

About 80 students gathered in Stamp Student Union yesterday and spent several hours cutting fleece and tying knots as part of the third annual "Fleece-a-Thon," which collects blankets and holiday-themed cards to be donated to sick or abused children and those in foster care.

The event was hosted by the Gemstone-Ellicott Service Committee, which made the blankets for Project Linus — a nonprofit organization whose mission is to "provide love, a sense of security, warmth and comfort to children who are seriously ill, traumatized, or otherwise in need through the gifts of new, handmade blankets," according to the group's website.

The event's participation more than doubled from last year, according to GESC President Kelly Klein, and was bolstered by additional supplies purchased with a grant from Pepsi.

"This is the largest event that we've ever had. We also have twice the amount of fleece that we've ever had," said Klein, a senior environmental science and policy major. "In the past we've just done fundraising to get the fleece, but because we got the grant, we were able to buy 50 blankets' worth of fleece, whereas in the past we've only had around 20. And it's in Stamp, and we've always had it in Ellicott [Hall] before, so this is more accessible to a lot of people."

In addition to students looking to gain class-mandated service hours, members of numerous student groups, including members of the geography club, pre-med society, rugby team and Terps Roots and Shoots, an on-campus service group, attended the event.

"We were looking for a volunteer opportunity to get our members out of our normal realm," said Allison Gost, a senior environmental science and policy major and president of the geography club. "We didn't need any service hours or anything; we just felt that it was something we wanted to do as a club. … We all really liked the thought of helping kids."

The event started several years ago as a "knit-a-thon," but Klein said students made the decision to switch to blankets to make the event more accessible to students.

"The knit-a-thon wasn't really working. People didn't really want to come because nobody knew how to knit," Klein said. "We chose Project Linus because we really liked the idea of donating to kids and knowing exactly where [the blankets] were going."

Klein added all blankets are also tagged with messages such as "Thinking of you, from the University of Maryland" before being dropped off at firehouses for Project Linus organizers.

"When we put the tags on them, we put our address on it, and a lot of times the kids will send us thank-you notes and everything," Klein said.

But Klein said the original organizers of the event will be graduating in the spring after three Fleece-a-Thons, and she said she was "hoping" someone in the group would pick up the torch. Future organizers, it seems, won't have trouble finding help.

"We decided to come because it's a good thing to do," said senior geographical information systems major Jon Nordling. "It's kind of nice to be able to do something outside of all the textbooks."

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