Janet Belcher, 67, of Paulsboro recently completed her 100th afghan for the bereavement blanket program at Our Lady of Lourdes Medical Center, Camden.
The program collects handmade blankets that are given as comfort gifts to families who have just lost a loved one in the hospital.
Belcher, who has been crocheting for more than 40 years, learned of the bereavement blanket program at Lourdes in 2010 when her best friend saw an ad in her local church bulletin.
“Making these bereavement blankets fulfills my desire to help others,” says Belcher. “I am retired, so all I do is crochet, and what better way to help than to give someone who is grieving a gift of comfort.”
Belcher’s afghans take around three days to complete and are crocheted using a variety of different patterns — her signature is granny squares. She prefers using bright and soothing colors, which she hopes will “help to cheer people up.”
Donna Costello, patient relations representative at Our Lady of Lourdes Medical Center, said, “At Lourdes, we make every effort to create a comfortable and relaxing experience for the families who have lost someone. The blankets we give to these families help to provide some extra comfort during a time of tremendous loss and sadness.”
Belcher never meets the families who receive the blankets, but she learns of them through the many thank you letters she receives from appreciative families and friends.
“One woman wrote to me and said how much meaning the blanket has to her. She sleeps with it every night. It just so happens to be green, which reminds her of her husband who was Irish. It was such a great coincidence.”
Belcher also received a check from a widow to use toward the purchase of more yarn for future blankets.
“I’ll keep crocheting as long as I have the yarn and hands to keep up,” she says. “It’s a good memory of the hospital — for the families and for me.”
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