Newport Harbor students have it covered

‘A blanket is a simple thing to give,’ one student says about club’s Project Linus.The blanket started out on a farm in Scotland, one of countless items knitted by hand out of yarn made from sheep’s wool.

Four years ago, it ended up in the hands of Allie Noon, a sophomore at Newport Harbor High School, when she visited family in Edinburgh.

Since then, the blanket has spent many afternoons by the soccer field, as Allie’s parents spread it out on the sidelines to watch her younger brother’s games.

Thursday afternoon, it went to the dry cleaners.

Today, it will be among the 120 blankets traveling from Newport Harbor to the Someone Cares Soup Kitchen on 19th Street.

“It’s made of wool, it’s pretty colors and it’s plaid,” said Allie, 16. “It’s really warm too.”

At the start of this school year, the Rotary Club of Newport-Balboa established the Interact Club, a humanitarian student group at Newport Harbor High School. For its first major activity, the club decided to tackle an often-overlooked need during the holiday season.

Two weeks ago, the group launched Project Linus, a drive to gather at least 100 blankets for poor and homeless families. By the time the final donations came in Thursday, the members had gathered more than 120.

“A lot of them are just blankets that people brought from their linen closets,” said Arielle Little, 16, a junior. “A blanket is a simple thing to give.”

It’s also a useful and durable one. Lorrie Sanchez, the kitchen manager of Someone Cares, said the kitchen had a chronic shortage of blankets even as food donations poured in.

“We always have a need, absolutely,” she said. “Some of these people live out in the woods and make tents.”

Nathan White, the board member for the Rotary Club in charge of youth activities, graduated from Newport Harbor in 1999. He founded the Interact Club with the intention of doing one local and one international charity drive each semester. The faculty advisor for the club, drama teacher Gail Brower-Nedler, taught White and his two brothers years ago.

To advertise for blanket donations over the last two weeks, the students contacted their families and friends and posted announcements around campus. The side of the administration building featured 64 fliers taped together into a mock quilt. After the students were finished collecting gently used blankets, White used Rotary Club funds to buy 20 new ones.

There was an added incentive for students to donate: Today, the school planned to enter the names of donors into a drawing for two iPods.

Sitting in a portable classroom Thursday surrounded by boxes of blankets, Brower-Nedler said she marveled at her students’ enterprise.

“These kids are great,” she said. “All they get out of this is a couple hours of community service.”20051216irkfpwncDOUGLAS ZIMMERMAN / DAILY PILOT(LA)The Interact Club of Newport Harbor High School joined with the Newport Rotary Club in a blanket drive called Project Linus.