Soft Touch Ministry
The
Pillow Project becomes The Soft Touch ministry.
Starting in the 1960's Marie Banister
visited M.D. Anderson hospital, she regularly
carried cakes and cookies to give to the children
and their families. One Sunday evening she had gone
to visit a six year old little girl from Rotan, Texas,
who was being treated for leukemia. Marie noticed
that her mother took something from behind the little
girl's head. It was wrapped in a hospital pillow case.
The mother handed it to Marie and asked if she would
mind having it laundered for her. It was a pillow
made of discarded nylon hose. Marie took it home.
It laundered and dried easily. She thought, "If
that makeshift pillow did that much good for that
little girl, I will collect nylon hose and make them
into pillows for other patients."
Marie
recalls that shortly after she began making them,
the mothers would meet her at the elevator for a pillow,
"There were so many children that no mother wanted
her child to be left out." From that simple beginning,
a project was born that still continues. Others have
since joined Marie's pillow project, collecting nylon
hose, sewing pillows and delivering them to the hospital.
Every week, these volunteers make and distribute hundreds
of pillows to bring relief to cancer patients of all
ages who use them to prop up arms and legs or to cushion
other areas of discomfort. There is also the added
comfort that comes from the knowledge that these were
lovingly and carefully made.
Dallas
Nearly
600 items have been
made by the ministry
ladies and distributed to Lifeline volunteer
chaplains, Parkland Hospital, and several ministries
at Saturn Road Church of Christ. The items include
pillows, lap robes, shadow buddies, ‘ouch’
babies, and special pillows requested by Parkland’s
volunteer services. In addition, over 200 specially
designed pillows were made specifically for Parkland
Hospital’s burn unit camp held each year in June.
The ministry, referred to at Saturn Road as the ‘Peace
and Comfort Ministry’, has a core group of 25-30
ladies who regularly meet to make these items in Dorcas
House, a small house adjacent to the church building.
Linda Owen, the ministry leader at Saturn Road, also
organizes quarterly breakfasts for the ladies.
After the breakfast, the ladies work on cutting and
preparing for the next quarter’s sewing.
Linda Owen and the Peace and Comfort Ministry
were presented with the Trio Award at the Dallas
Lifeline Chaplaincy Benefit Dinner in April.
Linda has done a wonderful job of getting the ministry
started. Many people have helped, including
Jewel Wright, the Houston Soft Touch Coordinator,
and Sherrie Bellows, a member at Mesquite Church of
Christ. The Mesquite church has been providing
a similar service to area facilities for a number
of years. Sherrie shared patterns, ideas, and
was a great encouragement.
Jan Cox, a member at Saturn Road, is the new
volunteer coordinator for the Soft Touch Ministry
for the Dallas Metroplex. Her responsibilities
include visiting with area congregations to encourage
involvement in the Soft Touch Ministry and assisting
as needed in the development of the ministry in the
area. Jan can be reached at Lifeline Chaplaincy
713-524-1055 or at 972-800-9669.
Austin
Just
a few days after officially assuming his position
as Spiritual Director, Lifeline Chaplaincy –
Central Texas, Tom
Nuckels had 36 pillows to begin his visits to St.
David’s Hospital. These pillows were lovingly
made by the ladies at the University Avenue church
in Austin, with Ruth Crowson coordinating the ministry
for the congregation.
This isn’t surprising at all. The University
Avenue ladies have jumped right into Soft Touch.
They hosted the Austin Soft Touch Ministry kick off
on Saturday, June 14. Elaine Gainey organized
the morning that began with a continental breakfast.
Invitations were sent to nine congregations, but Elaine,
with help from some of the other University Avenue
ladies was largely responsible for the great attendance-–25
ladies from seven area congregations! The meeting
was designed to jump start the ministry. Jan
Cox, Dallas area Soft Touch coordinator, spoke.
How to organize, where to order labels and other supplies,
tips on recruitment and a review of Soft Touch items
were all topics of the meeting. In addition,
she had visited St. David’s Hospital volunteer
services director the day before to learn ways that
Soft Touch could serve St. David’s beyond supplying
pillows. St. David’s has a large rehabilitation
facility and wheelchair/walker bags were at the top
of the list.
Other Austin area churches are getting ready to begin
their Soft Touch ministry as well. The Bastrop
church will have their first work day on August 2.
Their goal is 300 pillows that day. Mary McDonald
is coordinating Soft Touch activities for Bastrop
and couldn’t be more enthusiastic.
Sarah Lynch has everything ready to go in Georgetown.
She’s very organized and has been eager to begin
the ministry since attending the first Central Texas
Lifeline Chaplaincy meeting several months ago. Their
start-up was delayed by the untimely passing of Sarah’s
husband, Vance.
Belton
There’s some real ‘Soft Touch’ enthusiasm
in Belton. Jan Cox visited with the Belton congregation
ladies to kick off the ministry there on July 26.
The ladies have a plan formulated to involve more
of the Belton ladies, and hopefully share their enthusiasm
with some other congregations in the area. Jan met
with a representative from the cancer center at Scott
and White Hospital before the meeting to seek ways
to be of service to them. Several items were
requested and the Belton church is ready to meet those
needs. Georgia Seals is the power behind this
Belton group. She coordinated the meeting on
the 26th and even opened her home to Jan.
