Pillow Pals: spreading love

Kathrine Alderman
ECB Publishing, Inc.

Sometimes it just takes a small act of kindness to brighten someone's world, if even for a little while. That small act of kindness is what the Pillow Pals here in Monticello hope to achieve. The Pillow Pals are a group that meets once a month on the second Thursday to make a bunch of pillows to send off to cancer patients. They send them to Thomasville, at Archbold Oncology, and Tallahassee, at the Capital Regional Medical Center—though they don't get the pillows quite as often.

Pillow Pals has been doing this for about 6 years now. It was started when Linda Henry, one of the ladies who participates in Pillow Pals, saw a similar program in Kentucky when she went to visit some relatives. When her sister-in-law showed her the similar program up there, she was inspired to start Pillow Pals here in Monticello. When she came back, she and Marilyn Youtzey got together and started the group up, and it has been going ever since.

Though they were a little short on members for the February meeting on Thursday, Feb. 11, the members there did their part to make, iron and stuff pillows and pillowcases. One of the members, Kathy May, cuts the pillowcases and sends them to the group, not wanting to come as much due to COVID-19. The group starts their activities at 9 a.m., and they are generally only there for about two to three hours and average about 30 to 50 pillows a month, though the number is usually closer to 50.

Not only does it bring a little bit of joy into the lives of those who are going through cancer, but it also makes you feel good for having done something to help someone. Anyone is welcome to come and join the Pillow Pals. Age, gender and even skill don't matter. You don't have to know how to sew to help them make pillows. They'll start you on the iron and eventually teach you how to do what you can't.
If you want to help but don't have the time to actually participate in the making of the pillows, they accept donations of any cotton blend fabric big enough to make pillows with. The First Methodist Church, where they meet to make the pillows, does help with their supplies and such, but they still need all the help they can get. So, they accept donations of anything, stuffing, money, thread, etc. Anything they could use to make the pillows, they would graciously accept.

The process they go through to make the pillows is a simple assembly line type process. They have a few people at the sewing machines, making the pillows; they have some people ironing out those pillows to make them nice and smooth and then you have the stuffers, who stuff the pillows and sew the small opening shut. Once the pillows are done, those at the sewing machines make cases to go over the finished pillows. The cases also get ironed and then go to the stuffing station, where they are slid into their cases.

Megan Gorga, a newer member of the Pillow Pals group, didn't know how to do anything when she first came, but they started her out ironing pillows. Now she stuffs and can sew the pillows closed. As mentioned, you don't need to know how to sew to help out. It's a wonderful feeling, being able to help someone, and when the group receives thank you letters, they know it's been worthwhile. The Pillow Pals need all the support they can get, so if you're interested in helping out this fantastic group, you can call Marilyn Youtzey at (850) 879-1201 or Linda Henry at (850) 997-6914.