Hello Friends of AZ Blankets 4 Kids,
Thank you for all you do to help us wrap our kids in comfort. We’re spreading the word about recent changes in our guidelines concerning tied blankets. Please share this information with your blanket making friends and volunteer groups.
On the advice of pediatric nurses, and for the safety of the infants and small children we serve, we will no longer accept tied blankets smaller than child size. If you or your group makes tied blankets for us, please make sure they are child and teen size only (40″ x 48″ to 42″ x 60″). Even the best tied knots can come undone and small children will almost always explore new things by putting them in their mouth and swallowing them. The knots can also be rough on tender newborn and young children’s skin. After thoughtful consideration by our Board of Directors, we decided to make this change to provide a safer, more comfortable blanket for our tiniest recipients.
All Infant/Toddler sized blankets (38″ square to 40″ x 46″) should be machine quilted and may not be tied. Child/Teen sized blankets (40″ x 48″ to 42″ x 60″) can be quilted or tied.
We’re also asking that all flannel blankets be quilted and not tied, regardless of size. Flannel can make a wonderfully soft and cuddly blanket, but it shrinks more than cotton, and not in a predictable or consistent way. Because of this, a beautiful tied blanket can turn into a wonky mess after just one washing. Our kids deserve our best efforts and your time and talent should not be wasted on a blanket that won’t stand up to constant cuddles and frequent washings.
Finally, we’d like to ask for your help in finding agencies in the Phoenix metropolitan area who serve seriously ill or traumatized children. During the pandemic, many of our agencies stopped accepting blankets. Some have reopened and resumed services while others have restructured and stopped accepting blankets. We know the need is still there, but we’re looking for the right agencies to partner with that will get the blankets into the hands of the children who need them. If you would like to recommend a potential recipient agency to us, we’d be happy to see if they would be a good match to our mission. If you have information about an agency that includes a contact name, phone number or email, that helps us even more. Please send an email to info@azblankets4kids.com or leave a voicemail on our blanket line (480) 283-8746.
We are so grateful for all your time, talents, and human kindness.
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