On Nov. 2, 2012, Life Care Center of Morristown, Tenn., donated more than 100 handmade pillows to children in the community.
It was a matter of connecting resources. Morristown Hamblen Central Services, Inc., needed pillows for its Project Sweet Dreams, which provides children with bedtime bundles. Life Care residents had been making pillows as a fun social activity for several years.
“Our activity department embarked on a new activity journey in 2010, not even imaging where the road would lead,” said Ginger Kelley, activity assistant. “One afternoon each month, we would meet with a small group of residents just to enjoy chatting while everyone stuffed decorative pillows for their beds.”
Thus, Life Care Center of Morristown’s Pillow Talk group began.
“Before long, we realized a bed can accommodate only so many pillows,” Kelley explained. “We began distributing our pillows as welcome gifts to new residents.”
In the meantime, two community volunteers learned about the pillow project and joined the group, donating fabric, providing sewn pillows to stuff, bringing sewing machines to meetings and even taking pillows home to finish.
As fabric and filling donations steadily appeared from a variety of sources, residents continued making pillows just for fun.
“Before long, though, we were in a dilemma,” Kelley said. “We had pillows stored in the shed, activity room and activity office! What would we do with all those pillows?”
Another volunteer told the group about the Central Services Christmas project, and the connection was made. Now residents have a way to reach their community.
“I enjoy making the pillows because we are making them for children to have,” said resident Kathleen Harrison. “That’s the important thing.”
A look at the pillows reveals a variety of styles, colors and designs – from polka dots to brilliant stripes, animal prints to John Deere prints, there’s a pillow for every child’s personality. But they all have one thing in common.
Kelley shared, “Each pillow has been stuffed with love, laughter, good wishes and hope for a bright tomorrow.”