The "Blanket Ladies" of SoCal

Wilmington, CA VFW “Blanket Ladies”

West Point Parents‘ Club „Blanket Ladies“

Gold Star Mother „Blanket Ladies“

Torrance, CA „Blanket Ladies“

Linda and Corinne. All photos courtesy Linda Ferrara.


In September, Soldiers‘ Angel and Gold Star Mother Linda Ferrara held one of her regular appreciation luncheons at her home in Torrance, CA for about 40 of the „Blanket Ladies“ she’s recruited over the years. The various groups include women from the Wilmington, CA VFW, local members of the West Point Parents‘ Club, local residents of Torrance, CA, and local Gold Star Mothers.

Linda does most of the fundraising, then she and Corinne head out to make bulk purchases of fleece. The bolts of fleece are kept at Corinne's in a shed while she and fellow Blanket Lady Carole work on the pre-cutting. The pre-cut fabric is brought to the separate groups of “Blanket Ladies”, who meet regularly to assemble “no-sew” blankets. The completed blankets are then collected and boxed up by Linda and her daughter Simone, assisted by granddaughter Kaitlyn. Finally, Corinne and Carole take care of bringing the large boxes for shipment to Germany.

Their combined efforts generate about 100 blankets each month. The blankets are distributed by Soldiers’ Angels at Landstuhl hospital to patients aeromedically evacuated from Iraq and Afghanistan.

Linda began making blankets for the wounded at Landstuhl hospital in Germany in memory of her son CPT Matthew Ferrara, who was killed in Afghanistan in 2007. Linda’s other three sons are also in the Army, and one is currently deployed to Afghanistan.

Thank you, "Blanket Ladies" for showing our wounded warriors the love! You make a difference - one blanket at a time.