Community Difference Maker
Dawn Waskiewicz
Nominated by: Dawn Niner
Blankets are often described as warm hugs, and for Taneytown resident Dawn Waskiewicz, creating them has become more than just a hobby—it’s a way to spread love and comfort throughout her community.
Waskiewicz leads the local chapter of Project Linus, a nonprofit organization that provides handmade blankets to children facing serious illness, trauma, or other hardships across the United States.
Waskiewicz originally got involved with Project Linus through Carroll County Public Schools (CCPS), when her daughters were attending high school. A teacher who crocheted blankets had started an after-school club. The teacher left CCPS before the school year was over, and her daughters wanted to finish the blankets they started, so Waskiewicz helped finish the blankets. Eighteen years later, Waskiewicz and her two daughters meet monthly, along with about 20 volunteers, to crochet and sew blankets for Project Linus.
Each month, Waskiewicz goes to Westminster, where she helps sort over 400 blankets made by local volunteers around Caroll County. Recently, the organization sent 100 blankets to the hurricane victims in North Carolina. Blankets are also distributed to Carroll, Hanover, and Johns Hopkins University Hospitals, as well as local crisis centers.
Washiewicz’s volunteerism doesn’t stop there. She also volunteers with Shepherd’s Staff, another nonprofit that is a nondenominational Christian outreach and support center, serving those in crisis in Carroll County. There, she stuffs stockings for children to give them during the holidays, and she collects items all year for its Sacks for Seniors holiday program, which gives bags to senior citizens in the county.
If that isn’t enough crocheting, Washiewicz and other volunteers take the unused materials to crochet/sew items that they sell at craft shows and farmer’s markets, with all proceeds going back to Project Linus. She also crochets hats for newborns through her group at church that calls themselves the St. Luke’s Blanketeers.
While it may be difficult to find Washiewicz without yarn and a crochet needle in her hands, she says that this all comes from her love of the hobby, and she enjoys being able to donate what she makes to help others.
Many times, the groups will receive thank you notes or pictures of children with the blankets, and she says that makes it all worth it.
If you are interested in joining Washiewicz to bring others joy, please contact her at [email protected] or call 410-596-8849.
The nonprofits will also gratefully accept donations of yarn or fabric to help with their projects.
Do you know someone making a difference in your community? Nominate someone today by emailing [email protected].
Dawn Waskiewicz crochets blankets for Project Linus and donates them to hospitals and other organizations where people need comfort.
