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The 2015 United Way
Martin Luther King Weekend of Service

Bink-a-Thon:
Make Blankets for Children! 

Join your friends and neighbors in the Jewish community to honor the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. by volunteering over MLK Weekend with United Way of the Columbia-Willamette and Hands On Greater Portland. The Jewish Federation and Portland Mitzvah Network are organizing teams to make it easy for you to take action over this special weekend!

Join us as we work towards a goal of making as many blankets as possible in half a day! The blankets we make will find their way to families with children in need of comfort and warmth. We'll be working together to sew, pin, trim, tie-off, and decorate scores of blankets. All blanket-helpers must bring sharp scissors with your name on them to help cut and work with fabric. Taking place in Beaverton.

Sign-up Here

Project Requirements:

• ​​All volunteers are required to sign an MLK Volunteer Waiver (print it now, fill it out, and bring it with you to save time during project check in). Volunteers under 18 are required to bring a waiver signed by their parent or legal guardian.
• Volunteers must be 5 years of age or older to attend this project; any volunteer under age 13 must attend with a parent or adult chaperone. 
• Volunteers should bring a pair of (labeled) scissors for the day.
• Please note that we will be working both on the floor and at cafeteria tables/benches for the majority of the time. If you need a backrest, something soft to kneel on, or want to bring a chair of your own, please plan on it so you can be comfortable!
   

​Your tasks for the day might include:

• Cutting fabric in preparation for the sewers

• Pinning the bottoms to the tops and trimming the bottoms

• Tying off the blankets with yarn or embroidery threads

• Hand sewing the Binky Patrol labels to the blankets

• Bagging finished blankets for the recipient agencies

• Cleaning up at the end of the project

Binky Patrol is an all volunteer, national, non-profit organization making and distributing homemade blankets to vulnerable children and teens through local shelters and youth-serving agencies. A "binky" is a homemade blanket that can be sewn, knitted, crocheted or quilted.  They range in size from 3 feet square up to twin bed size.

To learn more about Binky Patrol, visit our website: www.binkypatrol.org