They made him a blanket in 2005, as they had for so many others diagnosed with cancer, to comfort him during the tough times.It had a Star Wars theme.Over the next few months, Brian Montgomery paid back JoAnne (Huff) Szwarc and Elizabeth (Travis) Cooper a thousand times over in his special way by making them his friends for life.“In 2006, just before Brian passed, they came up with the idea of Brian’s Buddies,” Brian’s mother Sandra said.“These are animal blanket buddies that are completely handmade and sculpted, washable and child safe! … They presented Brian with the idea and he gave them the thumbs-up to go ahead, as he could no longer speak at this point,” the Rootstown mother continued. The little boy who attended St. Patrick School in Kent and enjoyed karate was 8 when he died April 3, 2006.Szwarc, 63, of Rootstown, and Cooper, 60, of Akron, met at Akron’s Hatton Elementary School when they were children and have been friends ever since. Buoyed by Brian’s incredible spirit, the women made good on their promise to spread sunshine to children at the darkest time in their lives, and to raise research dollars for the National Brain Tumor Foundation in his memory. To date, that figure tops $9,000 designated for pediatric cancer research.They treat their nonprofit enterprise with the dedicated precision one might invest in a money-making business, closeting themselves away two to five days a week in Szwarc’s guest bedroom and sewing room amid stacks of colorfully patterned fleece.With contemporary Christian music (courtesy of The Fish 95.9-FM radio) intersecting the hum of the sewing machine, the women sit facing each other with Molly, Szwarc’s 3-year-old Yorkie/Pomeranian mix, dropping by occasionally to check on their progress.The only break in their rhythm is to answer the phone or have lunch.On this day, Szwarc, a retired nurse, was perfecting a bright yellow duck’s face while Cooper — on disability from her job at the Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation — busied herself at the sewing machine. Both worked on stuffing the cloth animal heads that get attached to the themed blankets that measure 17 x 19 inches.Fashioning the heads is an art form all its own, the women said. Some are made from existing patterns; others they just pull out of the ether. Szwarc uses a 7-inch needle to carefully sculpt the face and eyes, which get placed with permanent fabric glue.Brian’s Buddies are extremely child-friendly and washable. “You just put them inside a pillowcase and toss them in the laundry,” Cooper noted.Online inspirationThe women first saw the animal buddy blankets — created by Connie Blosser of Philadelphia — online. They contacted her, told her what they wanted to do in Brian’s memory and she happily sent them patterns for the heads (lions, monkeys, rabbits, dogs, zebras, unicorns, horses, frogs, ducks, cows, pigs and more) and gave her blessings.Szwarc and Cooper say it takes them about two hours to complete one of Brian’s Buddies. They sell for $25, with $12.50 going to the National Brain Tumor Foundation and the rest used to purchase fabric and other supplies.The women sold 80 of the 110 Brian’s Buddies they say they went “bananas” making for the big Maplewood Career Center’s Art and Crafts Show in Ravenna in November.Brian’s Buddies have made their way over the country as baby shower and birthday gifts.To their amusement, the women have found that Brian’s Buddies are also favorites among adults as well. “We even had a woman order one for her husband who plays golf,” Szwarc said.They also sent one to Buddy Valastro of television’s Cake Boss on the birth of Baby No. 4. He wanted a jungle theme for the nursery, his wife didn’t. So Szwarc and Cooper sent them a giraffe-themed Brian’s Buddy. “We got a very nice note back,” Cooper delighted in saying.In addition to all of those Brian’s Buddies sold, Szwarc and Cooper make every effort to put them in the hands of children near and far who find themselves in the cancer war.Blankets of hopeSzwarc and Cooper began their fleece blanket crusade in adult sizes, nearly 10 years ago, following the deaths of their friends Connie Monk and Joanne Crookston from cancer. They call them “Connie Jo’s Blankets of Hope.”Szwarc explained the genesis: “I was with Connie the last three weeks of her life at home. That’s when a friend gave me a blanket” as comfort.In turn, she and Cooper decided to make blankets in Monk’s memory. A year later, Crookston died and they added her to their mission. They estimate they’ve made and donated more than 500 satin-banded, patterned blankets in their memory.These blankets, like Brian’s Buddies, are placed with those in need, and also are available for purchase with those funds going to help cancer patients, too.For more information, to make a donation or to place an order, please call 330-325-2924. Szwarc and Cooper say Brian’s Buddies and Connie Jo’s Blankets of Hope, while a real investment of their time, truly are a labor of love. “This is our small way of keeping their memories alive,” Szwarc said.In other words, it’s something they do when nothing else makes sense.Jewell Cardwell can be reached at 330-996-3567 or jcardwell@thebeaconjournal.com