PENN YAN — Karen Bradley left a piece of her heart in China when she traveled to Guangdong province to meet adopted daughters Chey and Kenna in 1997 and 2002, respectively.

She knew many children in the orphanages there might never find homes, and she wanted to do something for them. As the owner of Sassy Scrubs, a Penn Yan-based manufacturer of hospital uniforms, she decided to turn something she had begun at home — making baby blankets for the orphans — into a much bigger endeavor.

To date, the Blankets for Babies Project has sent more than 1,400 blankets to Chinese orphanages. The children in the institutions range from infants to teenagers, so the sizes of the blankets vary. Some are made from flannel or fleece, while others are quilts made from Sassy Scrubs scraps.

The business has 11 employees, including Bradley, and they work on the blankets when there is downtime between orders. “Several of us do it at home, too, in our free time,” said Bradley, who, in addition to being a mother to the two young girls, has two grown sons. Bradley found out a little over a month ago that the Chinese government had chosen to make Blankets for Babies an official project. “I was floored, happily so,” she said.

The Chinese name for the project is ai xin xiao mian tan, which roughly translates into “little blanket of love.” And now that it’s an official project, China has asked Bradley to provide 1,000 additional blankets, to be received by the China Center of Adoption Affairs by June 1, Children’s Day in China.

The adoption agency Bradley went through has information about her project on its Web site, and information is also on her business’s Web site. A group called Families with Children from China has been promoting it, too, via e-mails sent across the country. Some of the biggest supporters are parents who are waiting to go get their adoptive children. “It gives them something constructive to do instead of just looking at the calendar every day,” Bradley said.

In an e-mail Bradley recently sent out, seeking support in meeting the June 1 deadline, she said the blankets are for the children “to snuggle with, to draw comfort from over the lonely nights, and also to help keep them warm in orphanages where it is common for children to wear coats and hats to bed due to the cold.” Often, Bradley said, grateful orphanage staffers send digital photos of children with her blankets. “That just makes your whole day,” she said.

Mary Campbell is the coordinator for the Rochester-area chapter of Families with Children from China and said she considers the blankets to be “a very important project.” As the mother of a 2-year-old and a 4-year old from China, the Honeoye Falls woman said that for parents like her, “it’s our way of giving back and helping support the children who are waiting and perhaps the children who may spend their lifetime in an orphanage.” “Many of these children share toys or blankets or whatever, and having something of their very own that they will have, perhaps through their lifetimes to save, is significant,”she said.

Sharon Abbott of Geneva, also with Families with Children from China, said she’s excited that Bradley’s project — which Abbott sees as more of a passion — is official because it means Bradley can reach many more children. “I couldn’t be happier for her or for those sweet babies in the orphanages who desperately need some love,” she said, adding that Bradley is an inspiration to everyone but especially to her own daughters, Chey and Kenna.

Shooting for as many as 2,000 additional blankets by June 1, Bradley said the problem is the shipping costs. It costs approximately $100 for every box of 60 blankets to be mailed from New York to China, she said, noting that any funds not used for shipping will go toward more soft fabric for blankets.

“This is not going to end June 1,” Bradley said.“Our goal really is to get a blanket for every baby in every orphanage in China.” That means at least 100,000 blankets, she noted, adding, “We just wanted to kick it off.”

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To help this wonderful project succeed, please print the form found here and mail a tax-deductible* donation today to CCAI with a note that you wish the funds to be used for the Blankets for Babies Project. You may also visit the CCAI website at www.chinesechildren.org to donate online.

Anyone interested in sewing blankets or quilts to contribute to the project can find guidelines on the CCAI website, or here. .

Thank you so much for helping this project succeed and for helping each baby and waiting child receive a warm, soft “Little Blanket of Love”.

*Please consult your tax consultant regarding tax-deductibility for you.

Print off this page and mail it along with your donation to CCAI, 6920 S Holly Circle, Centennial, CO 80112

Thank You!