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.