​​

​

 

 

 

Welcome to the

Great Baby Blanket Project

2023/2024

​

Ways to Participate:

​

1. Make a 30”x 40” baby blanket from flannel or light cotton fabric or yarn! Your sewing, knitting, and crocheting skills are needed to create a blanket for a newborn child.

2. Purchase a receiving blanket from a discount store or second-hand shop. Gently used blankets are welcome!

3. Donate those blankets your baby has outgrown… newborn caps and onesies in good shape are needed also.

4. Create handmade “Welcome to the World” cards for baby girls and boys. We will add your cards to the blanket gift bags.

5. Send a receiving blanket/swaddling blanket through Amazon Smile.

​

Leave your gift to a poor mother or family in the Manger in the Narthex of your church or in your school. Your gift is a great blessing and will give hope and happiness to a mother welcoming her child into the world!  Guardians of the Visitation will pick up the blankets and store them until all are ready to be packed and shipped.

​

Suggestions for your community:

​

• Host a Packing Day: Guardians will provide the Balikbayan boxes so your group can sort and assemble gift packets for boys and girls with Miraculous Medals and welcome cards.  

• Blanket Blessing: blankets collected may be blessed during the Mass on the Feast of the Epiphany or at a School Mass.

• Partner with a school group or church ministry: To learn about the work of missionaries and the reach of the Catholic Church in forgotten areas of our world, Guardians of the Visitation provides a PowerPoint or a slide video presentation to inform your class or community of the needs of ultra-poor mothers and families who are the beneficiaries of #GBBP.

Our Collaboration...

• The Guardians of the Visitation will provide the use of a wooden manger with commercial straw (optional) during Advent, one 20x30 interior use cardboard sign personalized for your program, parish, or school, 6 templates for bulletin/electronic announcements before and during your event, one downloadable flier for electronic distribution. 

• We will pick up donations from a designated liaison person at a pre-arranged time.

• Guardians of the Visitation will pack and ship the entire collection at no cost to the participating parties. Donations of funds for shipping are welcome but not compulsory.  If you wish to help with shipping costs, please make your donation payable to Guardians of the Visitation with "#GBBP shipping" in the memo.

• Miraculous Medals, pins, and ribbons to assemble for each blanket if your group chooses to include this activity and be purchases in bulk.  Please contact us for a resource or pricing if you would like Guardians of the Visitation to provide them.

• Guardians of the Visitation will provide photos of the arrival and distribution of your donations to you to inform your community.

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

 

Common Questions:  

How long does it take for a box of blankets to arrive in the Philippines?

75 days is the average time it takes to ship via cargo ship.  We use reliable cargo services that provide door-to-door service. We have never lost a box or had a box arrive damaged in eight years.

​

Who also may receive the blankets?

We are happy to split the collection between the foreign missions and a local 501c3 charity supporting expectant mothers, young mothers, and families welcoming a newborn child. We are called as Catholics to go out into the world and live the Gospel as missionaries of the Living Faith.  Let us know your vision of how the #GBBP fits your call to Mission.

​

What time period do you suggest for the program?

A minimum of two weeks to cover three weekends and a maximum of a month or five weekends. It is our suggestion to fit the program into the liturgical calendar compatible with Church feast days such as the month of May to honor Mother Mary ending on the Feast of the Visitation, the month of October honoring Mother Mary, Missionaries, and Respect for Life, or the four weeks of Advent leading to the Nativity of Our Lord.

​

​

​