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As she was approaching retirement from a three-decade career as a neurological physical therapist with John Muir Health, Phyllis Edwards knew she needed to find volunteering opportunities to fill up her future free time. She had the work ethic to match. 

“I’m always looking to help. That’s just who I am,” said Edwards, 68. “I’m a good worker bee.”

Today Edwards creates or organizes the collection of thousands of handmade blankets for needy children, including refugees, with Project Linus, a nonprofit founded in 1995 that provides comfort to children in need through the donation of handmade blankets. 

“We’re giving children a little bit of love that they might not otherwise get,” Edwards told J. “It does give me satisfaction to complete [each] blanket and to collect all the blankets, but it’s really knowing that in the end, there’s a child who will be receiving it.”

A Lafayette resident and member of Temple Isaiah, Edwards has been an active volunteer with the Diablo Valley chapter of Project Linus since fall 2016. The chapter serves 17 organizations around Contra Costa County and other parts of the Bay Area, including the Assistance League Diablo Valley, Little Miracles and the UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospitals.

Starting in 2018, Jewish Family & Community Services East Bay became one of the chapter’s regular donation recipients, with Edwards serving as liaison. In 2021, Edwards retired from John Muir Health and stepped up her volunteer efforts, coordinating the delivery of blankets to JFCS’ Contra Costa County office in Concord.

Volunteer services manager Ami Dodson told J. that JFCS receives around 250 blankets per year from Project Linus. Every child served by JFCS is eligible to receive a donated blanket, but Dodson said a majority go to the hundreds of families that JFCS assists through its refugee services program, many of them from Afghanistan and Iraq. 

“Even though we are a Jewish agency, the vast majority of our clients are in fact Muslim,” Dodson told J. “We provide services without regard to country of origin, religion, or political belief.”

In addition to making blankets herself in her craft room, Edwards also stores blankets donated from other volunteers and one-time donors: from Girl Scout troops to elderly hobbyists. During high influx periods, she may store more than 200 blankets in her home at a time awaiting distribution.

Project Linus provides resources for volunteers looking to learn different ways to make blankets, whether by knitting, crocheting, quilting and sewing fleece. The blankets range in size and fabric.

“This partnership with Project Linus has been just amazing and beautiful on all sides,” Dodson said. “We are always looking for other nonprofits or other civic groups who might be interested in doing the same kind of matchmaking because there’s just a lot of really lovely potential.”

Project Linus has other chapters across Northern California, including Antioch, which serves East Contra Costa County, Petaluma/North Bay, which serves Marin County and Napa and Sonoma counties, Solano County and San Jose/South Bay. 

The Diablo Valley chapter doesn’t have a website, but potential volunteers can reach out to chapter coordinator Joan McSpadden via email at [email protected].

Long-term, short-term and one-time volunteer opportunities with JFCS East Bay can be found on the organization’s website. 

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