MISS
MILDRED BLANKETS

Topics: Attitudes; Compassion; Good Deeds; Ministry; Needs; Outreach; Servanthood

References: Jeremiah 29:11; Romans 8:28; 2 Corinthians 1:3–7; 1 Timothy 4:12; 1 Peter 4:10

When she was thirteen, Lauren Blakemore was diagnosed with a rare form of neuroectodermal cancer, in which tumors invade bones and often lead to amputation. She had fourteen rounds of chemotherapy and twenty-five radiation treatments.

Throughout her battle, Lauren was comforted with a multicolored quilt that a neighbor, Mildred, had made for Lauren when she was a baby. Lauren snuggled with this “Miss Mildred” blanket through childhood and then through the nausea, fatigue, and sleepless nights that came with battling cancer.

After Lauren’s dad visited a children’s cancer ward in India, he returned home to tell her about the kids. Immediately, Lauren began to raise money by speaking at Rotary Club meetings and schools. She wanted every child to have a Miss Mildred blanket because “chemotherapy makes you cold all the time.”

Thanks to women in Bosnia working at Peace Crafts, a cottage industry started by Southeast missionaries, whom Lauren asked to make the blankets, each child’s bed in the cancer ward is now warmed by a Miss Mildred blanket.

“When I was first diagnosed with cancer, I knew God had a plan for my life,” Lauren said. “This is part of that plan.”

—Ruth Schenk, “Lauren’s Mission,” Southeast Outlook (November 24, 2005)