SPANISH FORT, Ala.—It was a day of sewing and stuffing as volunteers gathered Saturday to make quilts for Project Linus–a national, nonprofit organization with a mission to provide blankets for traumatized or seriously ill children.

Volunteers of many generations worked in an assembly-line fashion to iron sheets of fabric before they were sewn together, while others filled the pressed fabric with quilt batting.

About 34 volunteers were present Saturday, many of whom have been with Project Linus since its beginning in Spanish Fort 10 years ago.

“It was a great day,” Joni Ojard, organizer and Spanish Fort High School family and consumer science instructor said. “We had a great group of volunteers.”

Ojard said the volunteers set their goal at 50 quilts and exceeding that with 65 quilts–the most ever done in one session.

“I love to quilt,” Barbara McDonald, a volunteer with Spanish Fort United Methodist Church, said. “I love contributing to a very worthy cause and it’s a lot of fun.

“I like to pray over the blanket for the child and their family while I’m working on it.”

McDonald said she has participated in Project Linus since it began in Spanish Fort 10 years ago and has only missed volunteering for one year due to illness, but contributed without being present.

Blankets and quilts were themed with a variety of kid-friendly patterns including Winnie the Pooh, lady bugs, frogs, “Finding Nemo,” farm animals, pastels, trains, ballerina slippers and puzzle pieces, among others. 

“It makes you feel better to be doing things for other people,” Morrissa Pottinger, an 11th-grader at Spanish Fort High School said.

Pottinger said she has participated in Project Linus for the past three years.

Many volunteers said they just had the urge to do something for a good cause.

“I believe community service is just a nice time to get out and help other people,” volunteer Kathie LaRose said. “I think it’s good for the soul.”

Many volunteers were on-hand lending their time to a worthy cause and earning community hours for various organizations in Spanish Fort schools.

“It’s good to help others and help sick kids who don’t have very much,” volunteer Emily Anusiewicz, an 11th-grader at Spanish Fort High School, said.

Ojard said if anyone wants to help provide a blanket for a sick child they can leave finished blankets at Spanish Fort High School to her attention and she will distribute them where they are needed.

Premade blankets should be made from new materials in a smoke-free home, Ojard has said.

Project Linus blankets have been donated to the pediatric department at Mercy Medical, Thomas Hospital and the Ronald McDonald House. Donations are made throughout the year as the need arises, Ojard has said.

Project Linus began in 1995 and has since made more than 2.6 million blankets among 384 chapters, as of last September, according to www.projectlinus.org, the project’s official Web site.

The project has two missions: To provide the feeling of security, comfort, love and warmth to children who are traumatized or ill and to allow for a rewarding service opportunity for communities, the site said.