For Immediate Release: Tuesday, April 21, 2026
Contact
Pat LaMarche, epicjourney10@gmail.com
Scott McLarty, memorialblanketmedia@gmail.com
Homeless Memorial Blanket Project will address homelessness and food insecurity at Times Square Earth Day event in New York City on April 22
• “Blanket-in-a-day” demonstration at Earth Day & Pause for Peace will encourage creation of handmade blankets
• #MemorialBlanket volunteers will collect donations of restaurant gift cards for people without housing
NEW YORK, NY — The Charles Bruce Foundation, which hosts the annual Homeless Memorial Blanket Project, will address homelessness and food insecurity during the Earth Day & Pause for Peace event to be held in Times Square on Wednesday,
April 22, 2026.
Earth Day & Pause the World for Peace (https://pausetheworldforpeace.org/) will serve as a nationwide platform for environmental and social harmony. Event founder Paul Sladkus has offered the Charles Bruce Foundation a premier booth and promotional opportunities to share its humanitarian mission with a global audience.
The foundation will use this national stage to promote the Blanket Project, which will visit New York City with a display of blankets at Stuyvesant Square Park on December 21 this year.
Each year thousands of volunteers from across the US and around the world create colorful and creative handmade blankets and quilts which are displayed as an art exhibit at a chosen high-profile location on December 21. Last winter’s display took place in Denver, Colorado. Following the display, the donated blankets and quilts are delivered to individuals and families experiencing homelessness.
The Charles Bruce Foundation is partnering with Unitarian Universalists of the Cumberland Valley (UUCV) and their Common Threads group to create a “blanket-in-a-day” as a live demonstration at their booth on April 22. Attendees will be able to witness the power of collective effort as volunteers work to complete a handcrafted blanket before the event’s conclusion.
In addition to blanket-making, the foundation will highlight the overlooked crisis of food insecurity in the unhoused population. Free copies of Humble Pie, a book by Homeless Memorial Blanket Project co-founder Pat LaMarche, will be available while supplies last. 100% of the purchase price for copies of the book will benefit people in need.
Those who would like to help may drop by the booth and leave a restaurant gift card during the Earth Day event. The Charles Bruce Foundation will get the cards into the hands of persons and families living in homelessness.
The foundation is inviting Earth Day & Pause for Peace attendees to visit its booth in Times Square and to contribute gift cards, participate in the blanket-making process, or join the conversation on community-based solutions to hunger and homelessness.
The Charles Bruce Foundation (https://charlesbrucefoundation.com) is located in central Pennsylvania. The Dec. 21 display in Stuyvesant Square Park will be an arts installation by this nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization.
#MemorialBlanket
MORE INFORMATION
“Homeless Memorial Blanket Project to participate in Times Square Earth Day event in New York City, addressing food insecurity on April 22”
Press release, April 15, 2026
“Earth Day & Pause for Peace In the Heart of Times Square Produced by Paul Sladkus”
https://pausetheworldforpeace.org/2026/02/24/earth-day-pause-for-peace-in-the-heart-of-times-square-produced-by-paul-sladkus/
Homeless Memorial Blanket Project on Facebook (national group)
To find a state Facebook group, type Homeless Remembrance Blanket and the state’s name in Search
https://www.facebook.com/groups/322512689587858
Twitter: https://twitter.com/MemorialBlanket
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