In mid-March, I decided to resign as Project Linus coordinator. I took the job in October 2008, not because I wanted to be coordinator, but because I feared the Kansas City chapter would be shut down. I didn't want to see that happen.
As a chapter coordinator, Project Linus sucked up my time and energy. My #1 assistant, Louise, resigned at the end of November. A few people helped fill the void, but were not doing as much as Louise and her family. Incoming blankets declined.
In a moment of frustration, I said to myself, "You say you want to move to Albuquerque, but that won't happen as long as you're PL coordinator." I decided it was time to set a date to resign and look for a replacement.
Resigning happened much faster than I expected. Patty, the other Kansas City chapter coordinator, was willing to take over both chapters. Things moved at jet speed to wrap up in just 2 weeks and hand everything over to Patty on April 1.
The photo above is the last 108 blankets that I sent to Children's Mercy Hospital in downtown Kansas City on March 31. The bag pictured on the left contains 4 Christmas-themed blankets, the only blankets I turned over to Patty. The rest of the blankets were delivered.
Disney Days
Almost everything was handed to Patty on April 1. I had Give a Day, Get a Disney Day volunteers signed up through mid-April. I finished my commitment to those volunteers, taking in the blankets they made, verified their service and got the blankets ready to deliver. Most of the blankets were fleece, with just a few quilts.
5 "Disney" volunteers tied quilts at our 3rd Sunday blanket group meeting in April. I redid a few ties that didn't go through all the layers. A handful of the quilts weren't tied enough and I'm adding quilting to help hold the batting. I have 2 more to finish adding quilting to and 13 to add our Project Linus blanket label to and then I'll be done with the last of my PL coordinator responsibilities.
Disney volunteers contributed 278 blankets to my chapter in February and March. I took in another 117 in April. With those blankets, I was able to increase the size of the deliveries to the hospitals and women's shelter, instead of carefully rationing the blankets to make sure I didn't run out. Other Project Linus chapters signed up many more volunteers and received hundreds or thousands of blankets from the Give a Day, Get a Disney Day program.
What Will I Do?
Friends and family asked what I'll do now that I'm not Project Linus coordinator. Well, gee. I can make blankets, as novel as that idea is. I was involved with Project Linus for over a decade before becoming coordinator. The main difference between now and my pre-coordinator days is that I'm no longer maintaining a chapter website. I finished 8 blankets in April, none of which were blankets that someone had turned in as a finished blanket. What a joy!
Yes, I want to move to Albuquerque. Some major, major decluttering and cleaning has to happen before selling the house. Getting Project Linus materials out of here is a nice start, but only a start. I need to catch up on home maintenance: some small to medium do-it-yourself stuff; some larger things. I'll be happy to put the house up for sale next spring.
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