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Members of the Berkeley County chapter of Project Linus pose with blankets they have crafted. The chapter is currently working on a donation for the victims in Uvalde, Texas.

Members of the Berkeley County chapter of Project Linus pose with blankets they have crafted. The chapter is currently working on a donation for the victims in Uvalde, Texas.

MARTINSBURG — Local Project Linus chapter coordinator Agnes Ratliff paused, considering what it means for the group to send blankets to the victims of the school shooting in Uvalde, Texas.

"What’s it mean?" she asked. "You can’t even explain it. I can’t even imagine. I have little nieces and nephews, and I can’t imagine…just hearing about the trauma they went through, let alone being there, they way it all went down. Our whole thing is to comfort children and know that we do that. That’s what everybody wants to do."

In conjunction with the efforts from the national leadership of Project Linus, the Berkeley County chapter will be crafting and sending 30 blankets — 20 child-sized and 10 adult-sized — to the victims. Nationally, the organization will be donating 4,300 for children and 800 for adults.

Project Linus is a national nonprofit organization that donates blankets to provide love, a sense of security, warmth and comfort to children who are seriously ill, traumatized or otherwise in need, blankets that are lovingly created by volunteer “blanketeers."

Project Linus opened the donations from just the students to the students and families due to the closeness of the community.

"Project Linus tries to be involved locally in any kind of situation like this," Ratliff said, adding the national leadership reaches out whenever a large-scale event occurs. "It’s a very close-knit area. They came up with the number that was going to be over 4,000."

Typically, Project Linus focuses solely on children but given the scope of the tragedy, the efforts were open to adults.

Ratliff said within a day of the national leadership taking on the efforts, the goal was met.

"Within 24 hours, we had it covered nationally with commitments from chapters to do that," she said. "Locally, we’re doing 30 blankets: 20 for kids and 10 for adults. I put out an email, and I had it covered."

The blankets will be shipped to Uvalde in mid-July and ready to be handed out at the start of the new school year.

"It’s going to be traumatizing for them wherever they go to school," Ratliff said.

Thinking to the volunteers locally who are crafting the blankets, the beautiful works of art she already had in hand from the artists of the Eastern Panhandle, Ratliff smiled.

"Words can’t express what I feel for this ladies making these quilts and other quilts and getting together to do this work," she said. "I have like three or four of them already. A lot of us have quilts in our selections that we just have, and when something comes up like this, it’s like, ‘Yes, I have this and it’s ready.’ Others are making them. The ones for the kids, they’re in the process of making them. They’re enthusiastic about it.

"This comes from the heart of the men and women who help us, from deciding what fabric to use, what pattern to use, constructions."

Due to the amount of blankets being shipped, the local chapter is seeking donations, gifts in kind, to help offset the costs. Macy's, a local sorority group and VinTin Welding of Falling Waters have already committed to providing some assistance. Ratliff said the group would like help to be gifts in kind so all the money goes to shipping, rather than a blanket donation to the local chapter of which part would go to national.

Anyone interested in assisting can reach Ratliff at alratliff57@gmail.com.

Ratliff also shared the Berkeley County chapter will be hosting a blanket day on June 18 from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. at the Berkeley 2000 Rec Center. She thanked Parks and Rec for its great partnership, allowing the group to use the space.

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