AU Givs hosted a community service event called Project Linus Tuesday Jan 4 from 9 p.m. to 10 p.m. on Ashland University’s campus in  Redwood, next to Clayton Hall.

For this community service project, Ashland University students were asked to volunteer just an hour of their time and come down to Redwood to help make no-sew blankets that are to be donated to children in hospitals.

In order to prepare for the event, AU Givs members had to “purchase all of our fabric, make sure instructions are printed, and send the word out to volunteers,” Marissa Latone, one of the advisers for AU Givs, said.

Project Linus occurs every spring semester and has been a community service project at Ashland University for over five years now.

“This year was one of our biggest years,” Latone said. “In total, we had a turnout of 168 people.”

No prior experience was needed for this event, it simply gave students a chance to donate an hour of their time to stop by and do something for a good cause. This event also welcomed walk-in volunteers.

The student volunteers were able to make roughly 55 blankets, but including the 15 blankets that were donated from a friend the event had a total outcome of about 70 blankets.

Project Linus was inspired by a little girl named Laura who had cancer by the age of three. Whenever she went into treatment, she brought her blanket in with her.

After hearing about Laura, “Karen Loucks decided to provide homemade security blankets to Denver’s Rocky Mountain Children’s Cancer Center, and Project Linus was born,” Eddie Adams, a writer for the Parade magazine, said.

“Its great being able to do something so fun to give back to the community and to those who deserve it the most,” said Emily Didion, a senior at AU who was able to participate in this project.

Students were encouraged to bring their own scissors and in return they were entered for a chance to win an Amazon gift card.