Temple Jeremiah annually hosts a Project Linus Blanket Day. Congregants and friends from the community gather to make homemade blankets for critically ill and traumatized children. Learn about the latest Project Linus Blanket Day in April, 2008. To find out more about this organization, visit Project Linus.

Temple Jeremiah Youth Spearheads Project Linus at Her School

Congregant Emily Chapman and her friend, Leslie Modlin, were featured on the front page of The Lake Forester for the work they did on behalf on Project Linus in April, 2004. This national organization, named for the popular Peanuts character, provides blankets to Chicago-area hospitals and social service agencies, including Children's Memorial Hospital, Rush Hospital, North Shore Hospice and Maryville Home, for distribution to sick and abused children. Project Linus has provided over 734,000 blankets to date.

Emily and Leslie were motivated to create blankets at their school, Lake Forest High School, after Emily heard local Project Linus chapter coordinator Judi Goldman speak at Temple Jeremiah. The girls organized students in the English department to work on the blankets, the first time an entire department became involved in a community service project at the high school. Emily and Leslie successfully applied for a $1000 grant from the Illinois State Board of Education to cover the cost of supplies.

Now that Project Linus is off the ground at Lake Forest High, Emily and Leslie hope to take the project one step further and train fellow students to bring Project Linus to their churches, temples, camp and workplaces.

- April, 2004