Feature Story 1: Pillowcase Project Name: Yunjeong Lee

As the sunny days of West Texas had finally seemed to have pasted and a new season
had finally arrived, Tameka Judsons had just survived half of her junior year, and it was time for
her to finally receive the rest she deserved. As she sat in her living room, she grabbed the
remote control to find something to entertain her. As she scrolled through channels, she saw
something that caught her eye: a special news segment about the local children’s hospital. As
she leaned forward to get a better look at the starkness of the children’s hospital rooms, a tear
slipped out, breaking the doorway for others. As tears filled her face she realized she was
changed. Her perspective had changed, and her eyes had opened up to something she never
realized before.
Judson got to work right away. She decided that she was going to make the children’s
stay in the hospital a little better with her Pillowcase Project. She decided to add a splash of
color to the kids white hospital rooms. Judson delivered her first set of pillowcases, putting
smiles on the children’s faces every day, and is planning to deliver her second set of
pillowcases this Friday.
“When I watched that special new 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.”
Judson started by contacting a hospital administrator to get approval of her idea. The
hospital administrator, Doug Lent, loved Judson’s idea of making colorful pillowcases for these
children and approved her plan right away.
“This has been an absolutely wonderful project at the hospital,” Lent said. “I had no idea
how much a pillowcase could mean to a little child. I see children all over the hospital clutching
their special pillow.”
Now that Judson got her approval from the hospital, it was finally time for her to get her
plan into action. Her idea was set, but it was a big project for her to handle on her own. Judson
gathered seven of her friends to help her, including junior Sonia Bustamante.
“I am not very good on the sewing machine, so I do most of the cutting and pinning,”
Bustamante said. “It sounds kind of boring, but I have loved every minute of it. It’s a great group
of girls, and it's so rewarding when a finished pillowcase is added to our crate.”
In order to keep this project going, Judson contacted local businesses in order to get
funds. With these funds, Judson and the girls buy supplies to keep the project going. Through
this, they have been able to make pillowcases every Tuesday and Thursday from 4 to 6 p.m.
and 2 to 4 p.m. on Sundays. They have turned Judson’s dining room into their workplace. These
pillowcases they made made a big difference in the kids especially in one of the kids, Sara.
“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,” Sara’s parent, Valeria Gallegos,
said. “Tameka was right. Color did make a difference for Sara.”
The girls had made 30 pillowcases by Feb.15 and delivered them that day. The adults
hadn’t realized the difference a splash of color could make.
“Some of these children have spent almost half of their lives in a hospital in those white,
depressing rooms,”Judson said. “I hope the colorful pillowcases will bring these children joy,
too. They so need it.”