Feature Story 1: Pillowcase Project Name:

White.
That is all you can see in the children wards in hospitals. White pillows, white sheets,
white walls; the starkness of those wards upset junior Tameka Judson.

Over winter break, Judson watched a special segment on the news about a children’s
hospital. When she saw the bleakness of those rooms, the idea of the Pillowcase Project
popped in her head. Judson contacted hospital administrator Doug Lent and asked if she could
make these colorful pillowcases for the children at the hospital. Lent liked this plan and
approved it. By Feb. 15, Judson and several of her friends delivered their first set of pillowcases
to the hospital. They will deliver their second set of pillowcases to the cancer ward of the
hospital on March 8.

Judson was emotional when she saw the special news cast on the hospital. After the
special news cast, she knew she wanted to do something for the children.

“When I watched that special new cast on the children’s hospital in the winter, I cried and
cried. I was touched by the strength and character of those children and their parents,” Judson
said. “I knew I wanted to do something for them.

Judson was so struck by the desolate walls, that she thought about putting some color in
the children's wards. She thought that she could bring some happiness from the burst of colors
that those rooms will get.

“Colors make me happy, so I was so struck by the whiteness of those hospital rooms.
Everything was white and stark,” Judson said. “I thought that if I could bring a little color into
those rooms, I might be able to bring a little happiness, too.”

With all that hard work that she and her friends put in, it paid off with the happiness that
the children showed.

“It worked,” Judson sai., “When we delivered our first set of pillowcases, I can't describe
the joy we saw in those children’s faces.”

The pillowcases Tameka and her friends distributed affected the children in a positive
way. They helped them get over their fears and comforted them when they were scared.
“That pillowcase made a huge difference for our Sara,” a mother of one of the patients,
Valeria Gallegos, said. “When she was scared, she would hug it tight and tell us ‘Whiskers’ (The
name of the pillowcase) would protect her.”

Judson and her friends have been working really hard for the second set of special
pillowcases for a certain group of children.

“This week we are delivering some very special pillowcases -- to the children in the
cancer ward of the hospital,” Judson said. “Some of these children have spent almost half of
Feature Story 1: Pillowcase Project Name:

their lives in a hospital in that white, depressing room. I hope the colorful pillowcases will bring
these children joy too.”

Lent said he loves this project and appreciates the impact that the colorful pillowcases
have on the children.

“This has been an absolutely wonderful project at the hospital. I had no idea how much a
pillow case could mean to a child., Lent said. “I see children all over the hospital clutching their
special pillow.”