June 2026 — Thirty years ago, a handful of volunteers in Southern California started making handmade blankets for children in crisis. No budget. No office. Just fabric, a sewing machine, and the belief that a child who has lost everything, is ill, abused, or scared should at least have something soft to hold onto.
Today, Binky Patrol operates across the country, has supported more than 350 chapters along with private groups, schools, companies, and churches, and has placed an estimated one million handmade blankets in the arms of children facing abuse, illness, homelessness, and trauma. Binky Patrol makes blankets and gives them away. Nothing complicated.
That number is an estimate — and we say that with a smile, because so many of you have been making and delivering binkies quietly, faithfully, without filing a single report. We see you. We are grateful to every one of you.
The Volunteers Who Built This
Binky Patrol has never been a building or a budget line. It is people. In an ordinary year, somewhere between 25,000 and 75,000 volunteers across the country cut fabric, tie fleece, crochet rows, knit squares, and carry finished blankets to the children who need them. Some of those volunteers have been here since the beginning — thirty years of Saturday mornings, thirty years of bink-a-thons, thirty years of showing up.
To our founding volunteers, our long-standing chapter leaders, and every hand that has touched a binky before it reached a child: this anniversary belongs to you.
The Partners Who Made It Possible
Sustaining a national nonprofit for thirty years takes more than heart. We are deeply grateful to the sponsors and partners who have believed in this mission across the decades.
Hoffman California Fabrics in Mission Viejo, California, has supported Binky Patrol since the beginning — their generosity in fabric and materials has made countless binkies possible. Long-term partners, including Intel, Ingram Micro, Delta Dental, Nike, Walmart, and the MrBallen Foundation, have each played a meaningful role in advancing this mission. We do not take that trust lightly.
What Comes Next
Thirty years in, the need has not diminished. Children still land in emergency placements without a single comfort object. Families still walk into shelters with nothing. Our chapters are still the ones who show up with something warm and handmade.
If you have been thinking about starting a chapter, joining one, hosting a bink-a-thon, or simply making a blanket at your kitchen table, now is a good time to start. The next thirty years of binkies will be made by people who decide today that it matters.
Make blankets. Make friends. Make a difference.
