On Tuesday, May 13th, the Chestermere High School’s Fashions class took a field trip to the Alberta Children’s Hospital to donate a project they had been working on in class for the past few weeks. The donation? Pillowcases–and not just a handful, around 63 pillowcases were made by the kids with the hope of donating something vibrant and personal to the long-term patients at the hospital.
“I’ve learned that we can all work together and put aside our differences for a better, greater cause,” says one of the students in regards to the project. One of the high school’s staff members, Marianne Sutcliffe, is the teacher of the fashions class. She said when she first proposed the idea to her class, the kids responded with enthusiasm. “I was reading a sewing magazine and something like this happened down in the states,” she says, “I figured it might be something my own class would be interested in doing.” All of the materials were donated by a large sewing store in Calgary known as ‘My Sewing Room’, owned by Anne Dale. Before the kids stopped at the hospital, they were able to browse around the store and get inspired by all of the materials they can use for future projects.
“I feel like the world can be a lot better, and we should do what we can to make it better,” says senior student Kelly DeWitte, “this isn’t just something we’re doing to receive praise or recognition. That’s not the point,” he says, “it’s just something that should be done.”
Each pillowcase is unique, bright, and made with love. Although the class was not able to deliver the pillowcases directly to the children who are long-term patients at the hospital, their donation was met with gratitude. The pillowcases will be handed to a team part of the Alberta Children’s Hospital Foundation who will then distribute them to the families.
“A donation that is handmade such as these pillowcases will be greatly appreciated by the kids,” says Utah Hawley, part of the Alberta Children’s Hospital Foundation, “the children who have to stay here for long periods of time away from their own homes will be so happy to know that people still care and think about them.” Hawley was extremely delighted by the donations, especially in conjunction with the Hockey Marathon that was still occurring at the time, and has now been recorded that they raised over two million dollars. “I’ve been there pretty much every day,” she says, “I think it is absolutely amazing.” The group was happy to know that the kids would now always have something to remind them of the outside communities’ support and belief in their recovery.
