When school starts in Uvalde CISD next month, 4,400 students and 800 adults will be the recipients of a nationwide effort spearheaded by a nonprofit known for spreading love by gifting handmade blankets to those who need it most.

While only the passage of time will help heal those affected by the tragedy, Uvalde students, school personnel and parents of children killed in the mass shooting in May will receive blankets and quilts made by volunteers or “blanketeers” affiliated with Project Linus.

The Uvalde effort was a natural fit for the nonprofit 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.”

Collin County Project Linus Coordinator Regina Forthman said their chapter made or collected 240 blankets for students and 210 for adults to send to Uvalde.

Initially, Forthman said the effort was going to be “just grade school and chapters in Texas” — not a huge undertaking for a chapter like theirs accustomed to distributing about 500 blankets per month to local hospitals, Collin County and Rockwall County Sheriff’s Departments, CASA of Collin County, Samaritan Inn, children of fallen soldiers in the area and much more.

The Uvalde CISD blanket drive was initiated by the Wilson County Project Linus, which is based in Floresville, the closest chapter to the community, said Forthman.

Because the drive is a response to a crisis, Forthman said “you have to go through national.” “We don’t want to overrun a place with a bunch of blankets,” she added. “We have to have a way to ensure they’re going to be used.”

For the full story, see the Aug. 18 issue of The Sachse News.