But here is what you might not know.

Handmade tags, Marissa made for each blanket.

Every blanket has a story.  Every blanket donated to us has been handmade by someone who cares enough to take the time to donate a blanket.  This holiday season we have received many donations from across the country.  Many times I just receive the donated blankets, and all I know is the address of where it was shipped from.  But when I do know the back story it makes the blanket come to life. When I deliver that blanket I can tell the chemotherapy patient where it came from and any other fact I know about the person(s) who made it.

When I started Layers of Love, it was mainly because I wanted help curtail one of the terrible side effects that chemotherapy patients endure while going through treatment, being susceptible to cold.  I wanted to help provide comfort and warmth.  What I didn’t know is that not only will the blanket provide the patient with physical comfort and warmth, but it would also provide emotional comfort and warmth.  It is emotionally uplifting to know that a stranger has cared enough to donate a blanket for them as they go through their treatment battling this terrible disease.  It touches their hearts.

You’ll remember Robyn, from our last post Ordinary People Doing Extraordinary Deeds and her incredible drive for Layers of Love.  Now it’s time to let you know about another member of her family, who has done and equally amazing drive for us.

Marissa is Robyn’s 12-year-old daughter.  Robyn and Marissa were looking for a project that Marissa could do for her upcoming Bat Matzvah. When Robyn and Marissa found Layers of Love, they went right into action!  Marissa put together a blog: Get Cozy During Chemo and began her blanket drive.  She set up a donation link on her blog so that anyone could help out her drive by donating money so they could purchase the fleece to make the blankets, her Mom sent out emails to all their friends to let them know what Marissa was doing, and they were off and running.

After raising money to purchase fleece fabric she set up her first blanket party and over 60 friends and family came out to help put together the blankets!

“I was really surprised, I knew people were coming and I didn’t know how many but I was surprised at how many actually came,” Marissa said. ”We have a few people from our community helping and a lot of my friends.”

When I asked Marissa how she has had such success with her blanket drive she said,  ”I made a Facebook event, my mom constantly posted on facebook &  twitter and her blog CancerHawk,  which more people read and it just got around quickly from social media.”

After her first blanket party, Marissa had a second blanket party hosted at her Mom’s favorite clothing store Emily Grace.  It was an all day event, where you could come in to the store, donate toward a blanket, help put together blankets, and shop for a 20% store wide discount.  They made 45 more blankets at the party!  WOW!

Marissa’s Bat Mitzvah is in May. She set a goal of 180 blankets to donate for cancer patients.  Why 180? Derivatives of the number 18 symbolize “life” and “good luck” in Judaism.  You can also read more about why Marissa picked Layers of Love, and why she wanted to donate blankets for chemotherapy patients in her Why blankets? …..My story post on her blog.  Marissa loves hanging out with her friends and loves cheerleading.

Just a portion of the donated blankets from Marissa ready to out for delivery.

Marissa is another example of an ordinary person doing extraordinary deeds.  She is a wonderful young lady.  These handmade fleece blankets will be so welcomed by the chemotherapy patients they will be donated to.  They will provide comfort and warmth both emotionally and physically.   We are so grateful to both Marissa and Robyn for their hard work, and their amazing inspiration.  Both Marissa and Robyn are truly making a difference to so many people.  Thank you for all that you do, thank you for all that you have done.  Thank you for all the blankets.  Thank you.

Layers of Love was born.  And we have lived primarily through social media since our launch back in February of 2010.  Twitter, Facebook, our website and here on our blog.  That is how we have spread the word.  That is also how we have met so many wonderfully incredible people doing so many incredible things.

“Individually we are one drop.  Together we are an ocean.”  ~Satoro

I am a firm believer in that quote.  We at Layers of Love believe in one blanket at time, one patient at a time.  We do what we can to help as many chemotherapy patients as we can.  We do all of this through the generosity of individuals, most we’ve never even met.  Our blanket donations come from not only across the state and all over the country, but the world.  We don’t accept monetary donations, only fleece blanket donations.  Because solely of the generosity of others we have succeeded beyond our wildest dreams.

Hang on because this is where the story of Layers of Love gets even better. We have the fortune of, through Twitter, meeting a wonderful woman. Enter cancerHAWK.  She found us through twitter.  She was looking for a project for her daughter to take on for her upcoming bat mitzvah.  They decided on making blankets for Layers of Love.  We have a full blog post coming up soon with much more on her daughter.  She is an amazing young woman. You would think this is where the story ends, right?

Wrong.

Let’s get back to twitter and our friend cancerHAWK.  Let me introduce her.  Her name is Robyn.  Robyn started a campaign over a week ago on Twitter.  For every new follower she received for the week, until October 31, she would donate a blanket to us.  Each new follower=a new blanket for a chemotherapy patient.

WOW.

JUST WOW.

We at Layers of Love were floored.  Generosity that we couldn’t believe.

Last week I had the pleasure of speaking with Robyn.  She was one of the most inspirational women I’ve ever had the pleasure of meeting.  What she has done is amazing.  Robyn lost her husband Alan, to a rare form of cancer July of last year.  She has 3 incredible children.  And as she states on her blog  “When I ask myself what can I do with the lemons that have been thrown my way, I know what Alan would say. He’d say, “Make Lemonade.” cancerHAWK is my lemonade.”  One thing she said during our conversation has stuck with me ever since, “If I can make someone’s journey brighter, that’s what I want to do.”  

That is simply beautiful.  She is one beautiful woman.

Her very successful twitter campaign gained her 148 new followers.  Which in turn means 148 blankets donated to Layers of Love.  One woman, one campaign, one GIANT generous heart.

Layers of Love can never adequately thank her for all she has done for us. Giving the gift of not just a fleece blanket to a chemotherapy patient, but giving the patient comfort and warmth, and letting them know that they are not alone in their battle with this terrible disease.  The gift of a handmade blanket does provide them with warmth to help with the terrible side effect of the chemotherapy treatment but it also provides warmth for their hearts, it’s comforting to know that someone they have never met does care.

THANK YOU Robyn.  Thank you for your generosity. Thank you for your inspiration. Thank you for your beautiful heart.  Most importantly, thank you for you.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Be sure to follow cancerHAWK on twitter.

Visit the CancerHawk Blog  The real deal for cancer patients & their caregivers….

“Like” CancerHawk on Facebook

In advance of our upcoming post on Robyn’s daughter, you might want to take a look at the Get Cozy During Chemo blog.

Filed under: Chemotherapy Patients, Donations Tagged: blankets, blog, cancer, cancerHAWK, chemotherapy, comfort, comfort & warmth, donation, Donations, facebook, fleece blankets, generosity, giving, heart, inspirational, patients, social media, twitter, warmth, website ]]> http://layersoflove.wordpress.com/2011/11/03/ordinary-people-doing-extraordinary-deeds/feed/ 1 topsurf http://layersoflove.wordpress.com/2011/10/25/first-of-many/ http://layersoflove.wordpress.com/2011/10/25/first-of-many/#comments Tue, 25 Oct 2011 11:00:20 +0000 Patty http://layersoflove.wordpress.com/?p=732 ]]>

Preparing the blankets with ribbon and tags

Today we are very happy to say that Layers of Love will ship out the first of what we will hope will be many shipments of child-sized fleece blankets to the Isaiah Alonso Foundation.  The foundation is going to hand them out to children who have cancer to provide them with comfort and warmth as they go through their treatments.  We are thrilled to be working with this wonderful foundation.

Some fleece blankets to be shipped

We started with a goal of 10 blankets for the Isaiah Alonso Foundation and are very proud to say that we have gone above and beyond that mark of 10 blankets.  Today we will ship out 18 brand new fleece blankets.

Blankets waiting to be packaged up to ship out.

The blankets are all packed in boxes and ready for shipment.

Our blanket drive continues.  As long as their are chemotherapy patients, whether a child or an adult, we will continue to collect brand new fleece blankets to give to the patients to provide them with comfort and warmth while they are going through treatment.

We could not do what we do without the generous donations of both fabric, and blanket kits from our friends all over the United States and the globe.  We have received donations from as far away as Ireland.  We are very grateful of your continued support.  If you would like to donate to us please see the FAQ and Donation Guidelines tabs above.  If you have any questions please contact us at donations@layersoflove.net or leave a comment below. Thank  you. 

www.isaiahalonsofoundation.org

The Isaiah Alonso Foundation is a public charity that was founded in memory of 6-year-old Isaiah Alonso.  Isaiah collasped in front of his parents in September 2010 and was rushed to the hospital.  He suffered severe brain damage from complications of lymphoma.  The lymphoma was not diagnosed until that day.  He never regained consciousnesses and passed away soon after.  Isaiah loved to wear superhero costumes and loved to dance to Michael Jackson songs.

The foundation also has a gift shop where you can purchase wonderful merchandise to help them in their mission to help children who have cancer.  The Foundation is also on Facebook so be sure to stop by their page and “like” them.

The Isaiah Alonso Foundation Mission statement:

“Our Mission is to raise awareness for childhood cancer and raise money to lighten the financial strain on families dealing with this type of crisis. We provide financial assistance, as well as any other assistance necessary on an individual basis. It’s also our mission to help fund a cure. Together we can make a difference, helping one family at a time.”    

We are very happy to be collecting blankets, and look forward to a very long relationship with the Isaiah Alonso Foundation,  It is our hope to be able to deliver enough blankets to give to every child who is battling cancer, to provide them with comfort and warmth as they go through their treatments.

Child-sized brand new fleece blankets

With the holidays fast approaching, this is the perfect time to think about donating a child-sized blanket.   If you have a fleece fabric you would like to donate, you can contact us here in the comments or at: donations@layersoflove.net  We accept brand new fleece fabric and no sew fleece fabric kits (available at many craft stores).  Don’t have the time or not sure how to put a kit together?  No problem, we can put the kits and fabric donations together for you.  Not sure about sizing or measurements?  We invite you to take a moment to look at our FAQ tab and Guidelines tab above this post to see our recommendations for donating child-sized blankets.

*If your community group would like to donate to us here at Layers of Love, please contact us: donations@layersoflove.net We have worked, and continue to work, with several groups, giving directions of how to put the blankets together, supplying scissors, even gathering more volunteers for your group if needed.  Making blankets truly is community collaboration at its best!*

Although we are not always active on twitter or our facebook wall on a daily basis, we continue to strive to help as many chemotherapy patients as we possibly can. We have made it our goal that we will not stop collecting blankets until there are no more chemotherapy patients to provide comfort and warmth to in the form of a brand new fleece blanket.

I started Layers of Love with two simple things in mind: a need and a passion.  In my Welcome post on February 24, 2010, I outlined both.

“The first time I sat with my parents in the waiting room of the Cooper Cancer Institute, I was struck by not just the number of patients who walked through the door, but by how many of them carried a tote bag with a fleece blanket tucked inside.

As my mom and I walked my dad in for his appointment, the reason became apparent – the temperature in the treatment room dropped considerably. The first thing my dad said as he settled into his chair was, “I sure wish I brought my blanket with me…it’s cold in here!” Not only is the room kept cooler, but as we all soon learned, being cold is a side effect of chemotherapy.

While hospital blankets are of course provided, they are the standard, thin sort. Hardly the type I’d imagine would provide any real warmth and comfort. Judging by the blankets other patients chose to bring, fleece is the fabric of choice.”

Thus, the idea was born. I felt incredibly helpless to my dad while he was in the battle of his life. I knew I had to do something; I wanted to do something for him, for everyone in that treatment room.  So over a year later, I still have that passion, while my dad is doing great there are so many patients, dads, grandpas, uncles, brothers, mothers, sisters, grandmothers, daughters who are not doing as well.  They are still battling this terrible disease, still in need of comfort and warmth as they go through their treatment.  Going through these treatments is not easy.

There are many patients who do not have a support system.  They are battling this disease alone.  It’s amazing what a difference a simple fleece blanket can make to a patient.  So on this Father’s Day, I pay tribute to my Dad by continuing to collect donated blankets for chemotherapy patients.  As long as there are chemotherapy patients we will be doing our best to collect blankets to supply to keep them comforted and warm as they go through their treatment.

So to my dad I say Happy Father’s Day, I love you.  In honor of you, Layers of Love, my passion continues to go on.

Lending support.  Encouraging words can make all the difference in the world,  just ask someone who has been on the receiving end of those words.  Our mission here at Layers of Love is simple: Comforting chemotherapy patients one blanket at a time.  We have been collecting blankets to give to chemotherapy patients to provide them with comfort and warmth as they are going through their treatment for cancer, my goal has aways been to give them this comfort, at a time in their lives, when perhaps they will need it most.  It’s not only about having a warm blanket, it’s about knowing they are not alone in their fight against this terrible disease.

So that brings us to our new campaign.  This photograph below is an example of the tags we attach to every blanket we donate to a chemotherapy patient.

Layers of Love Blanket Tags

We are looking to add something to our tags.  We are looking for cancer survivors who wish to lend their encouragement.  How can cancer survivors help us?  Send us a short bio on their success in fighting the disease.  What encouraging words did you hear while fighting cancer?  What or who helped you to fight even harder?  How are you doing now?  You can send us whatever you would like to add along with the short bio, perhaps a photo of yourself, or your family.  We are asking for just one or two paragraphs, (or more if you see fit)  it can be hand written or typed out, in a card, or on a piece of paper.  It’s your story feel free to share it any way you would like.   Tell your story.

We would like to attach your bio along with our tag to a blanket we are going to donate, if you are an adult it will go on an adult blanket, if you are under 18 it will go on a children sized blanket. Your story will only be added to one blanket.  Our goal is simple, we want to connect survivors to current patients.  We want to give hope from cancer survivors to patients who are currently battling cancer.  We want to connect that line of hope, when chemotherapy patients need it the most.

A donated blanket ready for a chemotherapy patient

If you are a cancer survivor and would like to give encouragement and hope to a current chemotherapy patient we appreciate your help.  You can send us your short bio, your story, photograph, whatever you would like to share with a patient to our email at: layersoflove1@gmail.com or donations@layersoflove.net  Or you can send it by tradition mail service to:

Layers of Love

665 Pine St.

Palmerton, Pa. 18071

We are very excited here at Layers of Love to start this campaign!  We are sure that by connecting cancer survivors with those who are currently battling cancer that it will give hope at a time in their lives when perhaps they need it the most. Simple words on a piece of paper can make all the difference in the world.

I love sharing my story. It’s endlessly healing. 
~Ben Vereen

We are always collecting homemade fleece blankets, as long as there is a chemotherapy patient we will be collecting blankets.  To date we have collected and donated over 125 blankets.  We collect both adult sized blankets (2 yards length or the 72inch sized kits) and children sized blankets (48″x60″).  Want to donate and not sure where to begin? Check out our FAQ tab at the top of the page.

*If your group is interested in working with us please leave us a message in the comments or you can reach us at donations@layersoflove.net  We have worked with many community groups and organizations, from providing you with enough scissors, to showing you how easy it is to put blankets together, we will help you to get your group on their way to making blankets!

We are so grateful for each and every donation we have received, and to all of you we say THANK YOU.

 Since we have started Layers of Love we have been receiving, in increasing numbers, emails from many people who either know a friend or family member who is undergoing chemotherapy and have requested blankets.  We are very proud to say we have never turned down one of these requests. Thanks to your support we are still providing these blankets when requested and will continue to do so.

Our very good friends over in Mansfield Ohio, the wonderful children’s charity Friends Like Us, were hit back at the end of February with a devastating flood. Since we launched Layers of Love we have had a relationship with Friends Like Us. Mark and his wonderful children’s charity, were one of the first friends we communicated with through our social media efforts. Since our first tweets together over a year ago we have built a very strong friendship. What does Friends Like Us do? They are a nonprofit childhood cancer organization with a goal to help children who have been devastated by cancer through their treatments. With all the pain and heartache that can come with this disease, we want to leave a lasting impression of love and hope with them.

As we announced earlier this year we are working this year collecting child sized fleece blankets for children who are going through chemotherapy treatment to add to their Chemo Bear Packages. They have given many children and their families a great deal of hope by providing them with these packages to help them ease the pain and uncertainty of going through chemotherapy treatment. Friends Like Us, works tirelessly for children who have been diagnosed with cancer.

As devastating as the flood was and all the damage it brought to Friends Like Us, the damage hasn’t stopped there, not only did they lose a great deal personally, their charity took a big hit as well, it has been almost complete loss for them. They have been trying to recoup some of the losses with local agencies but haven’t had any luck through that venue to date. So they are doing what they can on their own. As Friends Like Us states on their website, “We did everything we could to keep the water out and as fast is it came in, we couldn’t keep it out. It was like a small river flowing and all we could do is run around to get things put up as fast as we could, but it was too late for a lot of it. We lost so much due to the damages caused from the water. We are working hard on the recovery process, but need so much help with repairs and financially. We just can’t do it on our own!!!” Friends Like Us lost a lot of Chemo Bears, medical supplies, sibling toys, many coloring books, books and lots of supplies. You can view some photos from the flood on their website.

We are asking today if you can help them in any way possible, no donation IS TOO SMALL, every bit counts, to get them back on their feet and running again so that their mission of providing children with their Chemo Bear Packages can go on, move forward and begin to continue again.

Friends Like Us has made it very easy to donate to their cause. Simply go to their website http://www.friendslikeus.org/ and click on the donations tab at the top of the page, you can also donate through your mobile device with their QR code by going here.

Thank you for your help, it is appreciated more than you will ever know.

Thank you to the wonderful charity of Friends Like Us for not only everything they have done for children and their families who have been devastated by cancer, but for everything they will continue to do well into the future.  Layers of Love is grateful not only for the fantastic work they do, but for their friendship.

“Stay the course, light a star, change the world where’er you are.” ~Richard Le Gallienne

Wonderful, compassionate and caring young women!

“Wonderful, compassionate and caring young women.” This is exactly how Girl Scout Troop 824 from Sparta, New Jersey was described to me.  This description is right on the money.

A few weeks ago I received an email from the leaders of  the eight Cadette Girl Scouts, Annalise, Bridget, Carsen, Emma, Kat, Melissa, Morgan, and Sheree, stating that they had just completed 8 no-sew fleece blankets to donate to Layers of Love. They have put together 4 blankets for boys and 4 for girls.

The boys and girls who are undergoing chemotherapy treatment will love these blankets, they will provide them with plenty of comfort and warmth as they continue on with their treatment.  We love the patterns they chose for the children!

As the troop leaders Diane and Pat relayed to me in an email, these girls have been together since kindergarten. Annalise, Bridget, Carsen, Emma, Kat, Melissa, Morgan, and Sheree are all in 7th grade now.   Diane and Pat went on to say “They are wonderful, compassionate and caring young women who devote many hours to their community doing food drives, collecting kitchen items for Habitat for Humanity, and working with younger girl scouts.  They enjoyed making these blankets very much and are glad that the blankets will bring comfort to children undergoing chemotherapy.”

We are very blessed that they chose us to donate not only the blankets to, but giving of  their time and talent also.  We are so grateful for their generous donation to children who are battling cancer.  These blankets will mean so much to the children who will receive them.

Layers of Love offers a BIG thank you to the Cadette Girl Scout Troop 824 of Sparta, New Jersey and their leaders, Diane and Pat.  We couldn’t do what we do without the help of wonderful groups such as yours.  You are all indeed wonderful, compassionate and caring young women, THANK YOU!!

*If your group is interested in working with us please leave us a message in the comments or you can reach us at donations@layersoflove.net  We have worked with many community groups and organizations, from providing you with enough scissors, to showing you how easy it is to put blankets together, we will help you to get your group on their way to making blankets!

Donated Blankets

Thank you to the many generous donations from both individuals and community groups who have contributed to help us reach our goal.  We realize that without the help of YOU we would not be able to continually do what we are doing.  It is our goal that as long as there is a patient who is going through chemotherapy treatment we want to be able to provide comfort and warmth with a fleece blanket for each one.

Although this is another goal we have completed there are still many other goals we are still striving for.  We are still actively collecting child sized fleece blankets for the wonderful children’s charity Friends Like Us. They are pairing up the blankets in their Chemo Bear packages that they give to children who have recently been diagnosed with cancer.

We are also still collecting brand new fleece blankets for adults who are going through chemotherapy treatment.  Since we have started Layers of Love we have been receiving, in increasing numbers, emails from many people who either know a friend or family member who is undergoing chemotherapy and have requested blankets.  We are very proud to say we have never turned down one of these requests. Thanks to your support we are still providing these blankets when requested and will continue to do so.

*If you or your community group or organization is interested in donating to Layers of Love please let us know by leaving a comment below or contacting us through our email: donations@layersoflove.net  We have worked with many community groups and organizations, from providing you with enough scissors, to showing you how easy it is to put blankets together, we will help you to get your group on their way to making blankets!