Yellow Blanket Campaign Brings Warmth and Comfort to Lombardi Patients

Posted in Lombardi Stories  |  Tagged cancer, philanthropy

November 21, 2016 — If you walked into the infusion center at MedStar Georgetown University Hospital/Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center on November 2, you might have seen two young girls passing out yellow blankets to the patients.

Lauren, 11, and Claire, 9, lost their mom, Laura Scott to cancer on March 3, 2015. To honor Laura, her daughters delivered the blankets to patients at the infusion center, where she was treated.

“It all started because the anniversary of Laura’s death was approaching, and we wanted to find a way for the girls to honor their mom,” said Jeremy Scott, Laura’s husband. “When Laura was getting her infusions at Lombardi, she would always complain about being cold. That gave us the idea for the blanket campaign.”

Laura’s favorite color was yellow, so her family put out a call on Facebook for yellow blanket donations.
           
“The response was overwhelming. We received hundreds of blankets,” said Scott. “We dropped off 250-300 blankets to the infusion center on March 3.”

When Lauren and Claire came to Lombardi last spring, it was their first time at the infusion center.
           
“They never went while their mom was getting treated, so it was a really emotional experience for them,” said Scott. “In a way, delivering the blankets to the patients helped them to begin to understand what Laura went through.”

It turned out the yellow blankets were a hot commodity. The infusion center ran out within months, prompting the Laura’s family to return on November 2, which would have been her 40th birthday.

“The response from patients has been amazing, one even donated money to the campaign,” said Scott. “It’s more than about being warm, it’s about providing comfort. We definitely want to continue this, twice a year, and we hope other folks across the country pick it up too.”

Leigh Ann Sham
GUMC Communications