Feature Story 1: Pillowcase Project Name: Madeline Rivera

Happy giggles and excited murmurs are heard all throughout the hospital corridors as
nurses smile, listening while sorting through paperwork.

They know.

A child sitting in a dull, white hospital bed clings onto a colorful, patchwork pillow,
delicately sewed with compassion and love, smiling gleefully. The mother, tears welling up in
her eyes as she places her hand on her child’s shoulder, is relieved to finally see her child smile
and happy throughout their stressful journey towards recovery. Standing beside them is junior
Tameka Judson, her hands behind her back as she feels pride swirl through her being.

This. This is what makes it all worth it.

Judson is the founder of the Pillowcase Project, a small organization that caters to
delivering handmade pillowcases to children at her local hospital. It all started over the winter
break. One day, she tuned into a news segment ran by Channel 4 news that displayed children
currently staying at the hospital. Each of their touching stories inspired her to take action,
creating the project. She has since delivered 30 pillowcases in the month of February, and plans
to deliver 30 more to the children’s cancer ward on March 8.

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

Once the plan was thought out, courtesy of Judson, she invited several of her friends to
create the first batch of pillowcases. They reached out to local businesses, who happily funded
Judson and her friends the money to purchase the materials.

“It’s a great group of girls, and it’s so rewarding when a finished pillowcase is added to
our crate,” junior Sonia Bustamante said.

When Judson proposed the idea of delivering pillowcases to the children, hospital
administrator Doug Lent was thrilled. He thought the idea was thoughtful and a wonderful
gesture of kindness towards the struggling children at the hospital.

“I had no idea how much a pillowcase could mean to a little child,” Lent said. “These girls
care so much, and it shows in what they do and how they present the gifts.”

Not only the children are impacted by these colorful pillowcases, but their families are
grateful towards these girls as well. They are allowing their children to feel joy through fabric
and smile during their troubling times, which is irreplaceable in their eyes.
Feature Story 1: Pillowcase Project Name: Madeline Rivera

“That pillowcase made a huge difference for our Sara,” parent Valeria Gallegos said.
“When Tameka knocked on our hospital door and asked if she could give Sara a pillowcase, I
had no idea what kind of impact it would have. It was the perfect gift for Sara.”

Judson plans to make many more pillowcases with her friends for more children in need
at the hospital, hoping to expand the Pillowcase Project into something bigger and greater in the
future.

“I want this group to make more than 1,000 pillowcases for hospitalized children before I
go off to college,” Judson said. “With a few more sewing machines and a few more volunteers,
we will do it.”