Press Advisory
Immediate Release
Contact:
Pat LaMarche
207 671 0190
epicjourney10@gmail.com

One Day One Blanket at Summer Fair
Volunteer Artisans from 2021 Homeless Memorial Blanket Project in Full Gear for 2022

This Saturday, June 25, on the lawn at Dickinson Campus – as part of the annual Summer Fair event – a gaggle of knitters and crocheters will meet at the Charles Bruce Foundation artisan booth and create a blanket IN ONE DAY!

Carlisle Summer Fair Craft Show Organizer, Connie Hollenbaugh is excited to have the knitters and crocheters in attendance at her Summer Fair event. “I made blankets for the art installation last year. Mine were among the 219 blankets placed outside, in Carlisle, as a beautiful yet tragic reminder of just how much space 219 people living on the street need – just to sleep! I’ll be making squares at this one-day event on Saturday, and I’ll be making even more blankets for the event at the Capitol this December. Homelessness won’t end itself. We all must join together to help. And we can’t forget our neighbors who need us.”

“Last year’s event shocked all of us – in a great way,” explained event organizer, Pat LaMarche. “Total strangers from as far away as Colorado made blankets for perfect strangers in need. We covered 3200 square feet of walkway and lawn at the First Evangelical Lutheran Church in Carlisle – and now we’re going national. We hope to have blankets from every state and cover a minimum of 9000 square feet on the west lawn of the US Capitol.”

Max Donnelly, one of the original founders of the #MemorialBlanket project, has made coloring pages for young people. The Charles Bruce Foundation who sponsors the event will be giving these away for kids who accompany their parents – while they knit or crochet. “We’ll have these coloring pages, and markers and crayons, etc. for anyone who’d like to make some art supporting the project.” Additionally, Donnelly invites folks to post their finished coloring pages on social media with the hashtag #MemorialBlanket, explaining, “Getting the word out is as important as making a blanket. The more people who know about it, the more people that can join in to help!”

The effort, dubbed #MemorialBlanket, marks homeless memorial night. The night when the entire nation remembers not only those who live on the street, but those who die there as well. More information is available at www.memorialblanket.org

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