empowered people The Gift of Comfort

Every baby born at Mason General Hospital receives not only exceptional care from nurses and providers, but also a token of love from the community.

Since 2003, Christmastown Quilters has donated baby blankets and other handmade gifts to the Birth Center at Mason Health, and in recent years, other organizations have also joined the fun.

A local chapter of the nationwide nonprofit Project Linus began to donate in Aug 2021, and a group known as The Nannies started their donations in July 2022.

The Nannies founder Kathy Edwards noted that their group began donating to mothers and babies at Madigan Army Medical Center on Joint Base Lewis-McChord in 2004, but new regulations required the group to shift gears and find a new hospital. Around 10 women now donate monthly to Mason General Hospital.

Mason County resident Jane Callea suggested that Christmastown Quilters make blankets for Mason General Hospital patients back in the early 2000s. She was a member of the group and a patient at Mason Health.

“I realized that what the group needed was a purpose, so I contacted Mason General Hospital,” Callea recalled. “It gives us great pleasure. Not all babies come into homes that are ready for them. This gives us purpose.”

Yesteryear Car Club donates stuffed animals

“We do this for the love of the babies,” Edwards said. “There’s a real need out there for babies and women who were leaving the hospital with babies that were insufficiently dressed.”

The Olympia and Shelton chapter of Project Linus has more than 100 people donating supplies to make blankets for hospitals in Thurston and Mason Counties, said president Cindy Coble

The group started as a larger Linus chapter serving a four-county region, but in April 2021, when the group’s leader died, Coble and member Liz Squires decided to keep the nonprofit running in a smaller area.

“We could not let it die out,” Coble said. “Two years later, we have now distributed more than 2,300 quilts overall.”

New masking guidelines at Mason Health

As of April 3, 2023, Mason Health has unveiled new guidelines for masking. Patients and visitors with respiratory symptoms, i.e. sneezing, coughing and runny nose, are required to wear a mask to protect others.

All other patients are not required to wear a mask. Staff experiencing respiratory symptoms will be masking, as well as all staff who are interacting with patients. Please visit our website and take a look at social media for our most recent updates!