CARIBOU, Maine — Whether people live near or far, members of the Holy Rosary Blanket Ministry in Caribou want to provide comfort to those facing traumatic situations.
On April 4, the non-profit presented 34 new blankets, four of which will be given to the family of 4-year-old Taimi Pinkham, whose life ended tragically in a fire in downtown Houlton in late March.
Pat Caspersen, a member of the ministry, enlisted her fellow quilters to make blankets for Pinkham’s parents, 4-year-old twin sister and 12-year-old brother, the latter of whom was transported to Maine Medical Center in Portland with burn injuries.
Caspersen contacted her friend Lynette Dobbs of Houlton, who has volunteered to deliver the blankets to Adopt-A-Block of Aroostook, a local organization that is helping supply Pinkham’s family with donated household items.
Lynette Dobbs of Houlton (left) and Pat Caspersen display four blankets that the Holy Rosary Blanket Ministry in Caribou have donated to the family of Taimi Pinkham, who died in a fire in Houlton last month. (Melissa Lizotte | Aroostook Republican)
Dobbs does not know the family but hopes the blankets provide some comfort as they work through their grief.
“We always think of food, clothing and those types of needs, but we also should take care of people’s emotional needs,” Dobbs said. “It’s so amazing that [the blanket ministry] would do this.”
The ministry has also given 30 blankets to Adoptive and Foster Families of Maine, which provides support groups, training, care packages, respite care and group activities for foster and adoptive families.
Sarah Hatt, resource family specialist for the Aroostook region of AFFM, said that the blankets would become part of the organization’s “comfort cases.” The cases include new backpacks filled with pajamas, socks, toiletries and stuffed animals and are given to children when they first transition into the foster care system.
“[The blankets] are beautiful, and I know they will be a comfort to children,” Hatt said.
A total of 234 children and teens from Aroostook were placed into foster care in 2020 compared to 207 in 2019, according to the latest data from the Maine Children’s Alliance.
The ministry plans to donate another 20 blankets to Adoptive and Foster Families in the coming weeks, noted ministry co-leader Judy Bougie. Funds for the foster care blanket materials were purchased with a $600 donation from the Caribou Rotary Club.
Due to the wide age range of foster care children, ministry members made blankets for babies, children, pre-teens and teens. While learning about the emotionally difficult circumstances that those children and teens are having, Bougie realized how something as simple as a blanket can have a great impact.
“These children are taken from their homes and sometimes even their schools and it’s traumatic,” Bougie said. “Blankets are something they can cuddle with and feel happy.”
