Blanket Bonanza

Dear Family and Friends,


Many of you know that in November of 2006, our son (and brother), Elijah was born with Posterior Urethral Valves (PUV) a rare disease that affected his bladder, kidneys and lungs. He lived for almost two hours. His short little life impacted so many people. While he was alive he had an amazing group of doctors. Those doctors traveled from St. Louis Children’s Hospital to care for Elijah.
Each year approximately 275,000*** children are admitted to St. Louis Children’s Hospital. Some for extended periods of time. We would like to offer these children a great big "hug". That is a "Hug for Elijah". What is a "Hug for Elijah"? Simple. It is a snuggly, warm blanket created by special people for these special kids in memory of our special little boy.

Every month since Elijah’s birth we have made blankets and delivered them to Children’s Hospital. Now as we begin a new year of blanket making, we are asking for your assistance. We would like children at the hospital to have a blanket of their own. Starting Thursday, February 14, 2008 through Friday, March 21, 2008 (Good Friday) .We need people to volunteer to make blankets. Our goal is to gather as many blankets as possible and deliver them to the hospital in time for Easter.

The blankets we make are very easy to do. They are simple tie blankets, made of single or double layers of fleece. This is a great project for all ages to participate. We even have special labels that are sewn on to each blanket. The directions for these blankets are posted on our blog, as well as, at the Children's Hospital web page.

Anyone who is interested in assisting us with this project can contact us at any of our email addresses, home address or blogspot. You can also visit Xanti and Kim on Facebook. All of our contact information is listed below. Also visit our new blog, to see this project grow. Feel free to share this project with as many people as you can. Tack on to emails, add to blogs or share with your myspace and facebook friends. The more the merrier.

Thanks in advance for all your hard work and dedication in bringing small comforts to some special kids.

Shawn, Kim, Xantiana and Noah

Shawn’s email: martialartsdad@yahoo.com
Kim’s email: xantismom@yahoo.com or hugs4elijah@yahoo.com
Xanti’s email: godsbff@hotmail.com

Our blog is brand new and still under construction. Hopefully it will be up and going before Sunday.
http://hugsforelijah.blogspot.com/


Fleece Blankets (no sewing required)

- a 3' x 3' or 4' x 4' piece of newly purchased fleece material.

Cut 3" into the fabric around the entire square piece of fabric, making fringe. Tie off each fringe into a knot where the fringed cut meets the material. These are given to the infants, toddlers and older children as a comfort item.


***Visit St. Louis Children's Hospital on the web for more information.http://www.slch.org/