Scouts brighten hospital days with pillowcases

A group of local Girl Scout Cadettes are hoping to make children’s hospital days a little brighter this week with the delivery of 150 handmade pillowcases to Golisano Children’s Hospital at Strong.

The pillowcases are covered in fun patterns, such as Batman, Dora the Explorer and tie-dye, and will be distributed to ill children as something they can carry during medical procedures and bring home when they leave the hospital, said Girl Scout Cadette Ashley Cook, 13, of Penfield.

“It’s just something that’s personalized for them, so they get to pick out something that will be theirs,” said fellow Girl Scout Cadette Emma Stein, 14, of Brighton.

Marianne Cook, mom to Ashley and her twin sister Katelyn, has been a registered nurse at Strong Memorial Hospital for 20 years and tells her girls about what it was like for a child to spend time in the hospital.

The Cook sisters were touched by the children’s stories, and the three girls chose to complete the pillowcase project to earn their Girl Scout Silver Award — the highest honor for a Girl Scout Cadette.

“We’re supposed to do something that will make the community a better place, and something that people will keep doing after we’re done,” said Katelyn. The pillowcase project is ongoing at the hospital among other community groups.

The girls spent over a year planning the project and many hours picking out fabrics, ironing seams and learning to sew with sewing machines to make the pillowcases.

They secured funding for the project from Wegmans and Victor United Methodist Church, where they spoke in front of the congregation to explain their idea and its impact on hospitalized children.

“(Emma’s) always been a really shy girl, but for her to do this with the other girls, she really blossomed,” said mom Dina Stein.

The regularly distributed white hospital pillowcases can feel uninviting on top of an already unfamiliar environment, so kid-friendly patterns bring smiles to children’s faces, said Golisano Child Life Specialist Jacqueline Wameling, who collected the girls’ finished pillowcases.

“The best thing is, this is kids giving to other kids,” Wameling said. Each pillowcase included a short note describing the project.

The girls handled most of the project themselves and learned valuable lessons like organization, leadership and public speaking, said Cook.

“They’ve really matured,” said Cook. “Once they started sewing and starting seeing it actually turn into a pillowcase, it kind of clicked like, ‘this really is going to be real.’”

STADDEO@DemocratandChronicle.com