LISBON —  Lisbon High School Interact member, Emma Wilson, recently introduced a new community service project to the club, Project Linus, a national volunteer organization providing blankets to children going through difficult times.

Named after the blanket-toting character in the Peanuts comic strip, blankets from Project Linus provide children with love, security, warmth and comfort.

Interact students, Lisbon adult and junior volunteers and members of the Lisbon School community gathered recently to prepare blankets for distribution by Project Linus.

The Androscoggin/Oxford County branch of Project Linus has provided blankets to St. Mary’s Hospital Adolescent Inpatient Mental Health Unit, Central Maine Medical Center’s Pediatric and Neonatal Intensive Care Unit; Androscoggin Home Health & Hospice’s Children’s Bereavement Support Group, police and sheriff’s offices, Poland Fire and Rescue, and children receiving baskets during the annual holiday giving program sponsored by the Auburn Exchange Club.

Blankets are also provided to children entering foster care and to children in families experiencing challenges, such as house fires or serious illness of a parent or caregiver.

Blankets are handmade. They are then inspected and tagged with special Project Linus tags and prepared for distribution. Local blanketeers range in age from young children (Girl Scout Daisies in Durham) to senior citizens. Blankets may be fleece, knit, crocheted or quilted.

They may be dropped off locally at Marden’s in Lewiston, at Quilt Essentials in Auburn, or by contacting Androscoggin/Oxford Coordinator Annette Wilson by calling 462-2274 (cell); 353-7071 (home) or via e-mail at [email protected].