Audrey Braun, a 73-year-old retired Roxbury Township school bus driver of 28 years, has now provided comfort and warmth to 100 families of Our Lady of Lourdes Medical Center in Camden with her crocheted bereavement blankets.

Braun, known by friends and family as Bebee, first learned of the bereavement blanket program at Lourdes through her daughter, Audrey Stahl, who works in nursing education for the health system. The program collects handmade blankets that are given as comfort gifts to families who have just lost a loved one in the hospital. Braun, who has been perfecting her craft for over 30 years, has donated her blankets since 2009.

"It gives you a feeling inside that you can't express," she says. "To know that my blankets are going to people who have just lost someone they love really hits me in the heart."

Her bereavement blankets are transported from Roxbury to Lourdes in Camden via her children when they come to visit her at her three bedroom home. Her daughter Audrey jokes, "Every time I visit Mom it is like walking into an arts and crafts store. One bedroom is nothing but yarn while the other stores all of her finished blankets. She has a better selection than Walmart!"

All joking aside, her daughter considers her mother's work to be a true labor of love. It takes Braun an average of six days to make each 3 x 5 foot bereavement blanket and she has even crocheted with a fractured hand.

While Braun never gets to meet the families for whom she makes the blankets, she learns of them through the many thank you letters she receives from appreciative families and friends.

"The letters bring tears to my eyes," she says. "I will never forget this one letter from a woman who lost her husband. She thanked me for the beautiful keepsake and said that it kept the memory of her husband alive each day."

The letter touched Braun's heart. In 2005, she also lost her husband and almost gave up her love for crocheting because of it. "The reminder was just too painful. We would sit together and watch TV while I crocheted next to him. It took me six months before I was able to crochet again. My kids motivated me to start it up again."

Donna Costello, Patient Relations Representative at Our Lady of Lourdes Medical Center is thankful for that. "We, as well as the families who receive the blankets, are so very grateful to Audrey for her many beautiful donations. At Lourdes, we make every effort to create a comfortable and relaxing experience for the families who have lost someone and the blankets help to provide some extra comfort during a time of tremendous loss and sadness."

As far as plans for stopping any time soon, Braun has none. "I will be crocheting until the day I die," she affirms. "Making these blankets fulfills my life in a special way."

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For media inquiries, please contact Lauren Markin at Markinl@lourdesnet.org or (856) 705-1375.