Project Linus gives sick children a little security

By Kathryn Combs
Daily Bruin Contributor

Too young to understand her surroundings, 16-month-old Reiana
Carr innocently tinkered with her pre-school toys in the playroom
of UCLA’s Children’s Hospital. A heart monitor trailed behind her,
restricting her play.

Reiana Carr seemed content, but in times like these, a hospital
can be an impersonal, scary place for young children. Essentially,
the child’s life is placed in the hands of doctors and nurses,
people they can not relate to. To ease their fears, UCLA alumna
Brenda Landau Goodman has established Project Linus to provide sick
children and their parents with extra support.

Project Linus coordinates both volunteer donations and
distribution of homemade quilts and afghans to children with
sometimes fatal diseases. These "security" blankets offer both the
child and their families solace when they most need it.

"It shows that other people care about them (and)… gives them
a little extra comfort," said Goodman, local founder of the
Project.

Goodman founded the Los Angeles branch of the Project, named
after Charles Schultz’ blanket-toting character in Peanuts, in
April of 1996. She extended an already existing program started by
a high school friend, Karen Loucks Baker.

Baker was originally inspired to create the project by a
photograph of a small child taken by Pulitzer Prize winning photo
journalist Eddie Adams. The photograph showed the child, hair was
thinned by chemotherapy , with a security blanket which she that
sustained her through treatments.

Subsequently, Baker began the program in December of 1995, in
Denver Colorado. Since then the project, originally aimed toward
juvenile cancer patients, has expanded into 36 chapters nationwide
and distributed over 2,000 of blankets to young patients suffering
from other serious illnesses.

Since the inception of the Los Angeles branch, Goodman has
expanded to Santa Barbara and Orange County.

"(This) comforts them when they’re in a situation that’s scary
for them…it allows them to have some feeling of security in what
they see as a very insecure environment," said Dr. Edward McCabe,
Chief Physician and Head of the UCLA Children’s Hospital.

"Being any age and being sick and in the hospital is not fun;
this helps them feel somewhat less vulnerable," he continued.

Parents also feel that this is a positive program which provides
hope in time of grief.

"Just watching her … her face is so happy." said Juan
Martinez, father of 3-year-old Deborah Martinez, a juvenile patient
hospitalized for reconstructive surgery due to a birth defect.

All blankets donated to the project are handmade by
volunteers.

"It’s a wonderful way to connect community and different
generations," said Mary Jane Rapp, a volunteer who helped mainly
with distributing the blankets.

A former elementary school teacher from North Carolina, Rapp
recently moved to Southern California and was looking for an
opportunity to work with children in the community. Her involvement
with the project has inspired her to also volunteer with the UCLA
Children’s Hospital.

At the Children’s Hospital, there are over 5,000 juvenile
patients with serious illnesses seen each year, according to Mike
Burgess, Head of Child Life at the hospital.

Locally, nearly 300 blankets have been given out to various
patients since April.

"I think it’s always important for people to reach out to their
community and try to help," Goodman said. "People who have things
should help people who maybe aren’t as fortunate or are sick."