[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 4 (Wednesday, January 8, 2020)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E9]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  RECOGNIZING GINA LOSS OF GREAT FALLS

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                          HON. GREG GIANFORTE

                               of montana

                    in the house of representatives

                       Wednesday, January 8, 2020

  Mr. GIANFORTE. Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor Gina Loss, 
founder of the Great Falls Project Linus chapter, for leading efforts 
to provide comfort to Montana's children.
   Project Linus is a national organization with chapters throughout 
the country. Its primary mission is to create handmade blankets to give 
to children who face a challenge, crisis, or emergency.
   Facing her own challenges, Gina was inspired to create a local 
chapter of Project Linus. When faced with personal challenges, Gina 
believes many people often ask, ``Why me?'' When she confronted her own 
challenges, she asked herself, ``How do kids get through hard times in 
life?'' Considering that question led her to found the Great Falls 
chapter of Project Linus in March 2006.
   Since its launch, the chapter has given more than 15,000 blankets to 
kids through hospitals, dentist offices, and neonatal intensive care 
units, among others. The entire community has embraced the effort, and 
now hundreds of volunteers across Montana offer handmade gifts of 
comfort for thousands of kids in need.
   Volunteering her time and resources, Gina uses her home as the 
chapter's headquarters, overseeing everything from storage to quality 
control. Her home is also the distribution center where the blankets 
are sent around the state.
   Gina says people don't realize how much a blanket means to a child 
who is thrust into difficult, challenging circumstances. She says as 
soon as a kid gets one of their blankets, they immediately settle down 
and never let it go.
   Madam Speaker, for bringing together people across the state to 
provide comfort to children when they need it most, I recognize Gina 
Loss and the Great Falls chapter of Project Linus for their Spirit of 
Montana.

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