Deliver with care:
Confirmation students from St. Therese Parish in Mooresville made and delivered blankets to people served by St. Mary, Mother of God Parish in Sylva as part of their annual Linus Project. (Photos provided) MOORESVILLE — A St. Therese couple recently airlifted a special delivery of hand-sewn blankets from Mooresville to the mountains of Sylva, providing comfort to adults and children in need.
Parishioners Kim and John Moloney, lead volunteers of the annual Linus Blanket Project, opted to fly the 22 quilts sewn by confirmation candidates to St. Mary, Mother of God Church.
Father Paul Asoh had requested a rapid delivery. “The sooner, the better; it is still cold up here,” the pastor said.
John Moloney happily complied, using the opportunity to pursue his favorite activities: piloting his plane and spending time with his wife.
“He loves to fly me places whenever we can,” Kim Moloney said. “The whole experience was just very beautiful, because I never did the delivery part to see where the blankets actually ended up.”
When the 23 confirmation candidates started this annual service project in February, Moloney was unsure of the blankets’ destination.
Recalling the devastation caused by Tropical Storm Helene, at the suggestion of a volunteer, Moloney felt the blankets belonged to people in the mountains.
A former priest at St. Therese Parish, Father Asoh, came to mind. Remembering his gratitude for St. Therese’s donations of gas and food gift cards at Christmas, Moloney knew the need was still dire.
The main roads of Jackson County no longer show Helene’s repercussions, but the economic ripples hit hard in the hollers next to the river.
Average income residents living in Sylva are mostly OK, said Rayanne Herrera, office manager of St. Mary, Mother of God Parish. “But if you go into the nooks and crannies of
Jackson County, you are going to see a lot of dispersed populations that were largely affected, especially during the winter. We just try to fill the gaps within the community.”
When Father Asoh heard about the blankets, he knew it wouldn’t be difficult to find them homes.
“I thought it was so awesome, because you let God lead you to where they should go, and this is really where they needed to go,” Moloney said.
The students created the lap blankets for various ages and genders. A toddler blanket featuring Piglet from Winnie-the-Pooh, a smaller pastel-striped blanket for an infant girl, and even a larger quilt with bears and bucks, clearly for an older man, were ready to find their new families.
Some of the blankets traveled from St. Mary, Mother of God to the Department of Social Services, which was putting final touches on a soon-to-open foster home.
“They were quite lovely,” said social worker Jan Fitzgerald. “The service workers were so excited to give them to their wheelchair-bound clients; this will truly brighten their day.
They will bring a smile to the foster children’s faces when they see them.”
The Linus Blanket project at St. Therese, named after the Peanuts character who always carries his blue comfort blanket, has been a tradition for the past 20 years.
Moloney and parishioner Roseann Harrill have spearheaded the project for the past nine years after the mother-daughter duo of Virginia and Elizabeth Tadvick confidently left it in their hands.
“I like the idea of helping the students with service learning, because I think that is a very important activity the generation is slowly losing,” Moloney said. “We are made to help others.”
The night of the project, the teens entered the fellowship hall to find sewing stations filled with cotton fabrics, rotary blades, cutting mats, irons and sewing machines that around 20 volunteers had set up the previous night.
“It is fun, it’s once a year, it is a lot of work to prepare for it, but we enjoy it, and we look forward to each year,” Moloney said. “In general, the volunteers come back every year and are so excited to just see this and see the process.”
Newcomers to sewing watched a 12-minute YouTube video created by Harrill. The group quickly learned how to operate a pressure footer, which way to overlap and stitch the materials together, and what makes a great stitch.
They were led in a quick prayer, “Lord, please send down your Holy Spirit on all of us to work together in harmony to create beautiful blankets to share with some of your young and old children.”
The confirmation classes broke into groups and spent five hours stitching together their masterpieces.
Moloney, who has been sewing since she was 10, loves to pass on her knowledge. “Sewing is being lost by the generations, so I like that part of it,” she said.
The teens carefully stitched up their four corners, while volunteers fixed broken needles, rethreaded machines and re-spooled shuttles. They left their individual mark, a label sewn onto the back that read: “Made with Love and Prayers, St. Therese Catholic Church,” authenticated with the designer’s signature.
Afterward, quality control volunteers inspected the blankets and gave their stamp of approval. The tangible payoff was two well-deserved slices of pizza, but the Faith
Formation students also left with a new skill set and the excitement of having their creation provide comfort to another.
“I think that this was a wonderful partnership between our churches and social services, and we hope to continue it into the future,” said Herrera. “We are so grateful for the confirmation youth at St. Therese and their beautiful creations that have made a great impact in the Jackson County area.”
— Lisa Geraci