Kids Creating Comfort, shown with some of their handiwork, are, from left (front), Christopher Lytle, Emily Barnard, Trevor Atherton, Theresa Xavier, Megan Smith, Caroline Hickman, (back) McKenzie LeSueur, Sean Smith, David Reichert, Johnny Trudelle, Nicole Lytle and Ryan Casal.

Local children have been participating in the Linus Project, a nationwide charity that gives new, handmade blankets and afghans to children who are seriously ill or traumatized. Four Los Altos children participating in a Linus Project chapter called Kids Creating Comfort, formed at Mid-Peninsula Christian Academy in Redwood City, are helping to make 1,200 fleece blankets for Gulf Coast children affected by hurricanes Rita and Katrina. The Los Altans are Christopher and Nicole Lytle, Caroline Hickman and David Reichert.

Kathy Lytle, Christopher and Nicole’s mother, said, “I’ve seen them be very touched by the recent events. It’s the children who are keeping the project going. Katrina was a disaster. but there’s something really generous and beautiful that’s come out of it.”

Also in Los Altos, the 14 first- and second-grade girls in St. Nicholas Brownie Troop 649 made seven no-sew blankets for Project Linus. They made blankets they felt would be appropriate for young girls who might have lost everything in the recent hurricane.

Troop Leader Viki Paige said, “The Brownies could relate to the fact that a blanket would make them feel better if their entire house had been filled with water and mud. The girls teamed up and tied the fleece blankets together as part of a service project to earn their Brownie Girl Scouts Through the Years Try It patch.”

For information about local chapters or becoming a “blanketeer,” visit www.sjlinus.org. For more information about Kids Creating Comfort, visit kids

creatingcomfort.org.