A Nifty Challange From a Friend

My friend, MamaDuck, has issued a Time-Sensitive Challange as a birthday present to herself. Go see it for yourself at Bryant Bulletin: Challenge (besides, she has super cute/funny kiddos!) or just read below. Then, participate with me!

I love blankets. I love making blankets. I especially love baby blankets. I love, when I am pregnant, working on a blanket especially for that new little person that will change my world. I have done it for each of my six children. Sometimes I go overboard but in my mind you can never have enough blankets. Some of the kids have picked up this thinking and ask me, out of the blue, to make them a blanket. And there is nothing sweeter than seeing a toddler wake up and holding the blankie mommy made for her and treating it like a best friend.

So what does all of this have to do with a challenge? I'm getting there. The church
Adam and I use to belong to did service projects all the time. Once a year it seemed the ladies were asked to make quilts to be donated to the needy. It's something simple to do and I enjoyed this chance to give. Around December I was talking to a neighbor friend and was shocked to find out that the hospital she works at has never benefited from these service projects. What was more upsetting is the fact that she works in the "ghetto" hospital working with some of the poorest people in our area. And still even more upsetting is the fact that she is a NICU nurse, not only working with the poorest but the sickest and most innocent. These babies are starting life at the bottom of the barrel and the only gifts they have been given are drug or alchol addictions from loving mom. Okay, that's a bit extreme, not all of them are born addicts. Some are just born into poverty and mom never had a chance to get prenatal care let alone clothing for her baby.

Now for the challenge. Do something. Change some total stranger's day for the better.

I'm asking all of you to make a blanket. It's simple and quick. Knit, crochet, tie, knot, sew, serge, full out quilt, I don't care! If you think you don't have the time then just pick up a blanket the next time you are at Target. NICU's use blankets for all types of things so any type or size will work. Some are used as spit up rags, some to cover mom or dad for kangaroo care, others are rolled up and used to prop baby in a good position, the list goes on. If you are too shy to walk up to your local NICU staff with
your donation then just drop it off at the volunteers' desk, they'll make sure it gets to where it needs to be.

Do all this by May 1st. Yup, I am only giving you 10 days to do something nice, othweise I know you will forget. Come back here on the first and in the comments tell me which hospital and what unit you donated to (NICU, PICU, maternity). For extra incentive I will chose, at random, one of the donaters to get something special. Now, get busy. Do something good.