Group to Deliver Valentine Pillows Filled with Love on Monday, February 9

Heart felt Valentine’s greetings are coming a little early for patients at Methodist Heart Hospital and Methodist Children’s Hospital. Members of the Heart Pillow Ministries, a sewing group at Alamo Heights United Methodist Church, are donating more than 120 heart-shaped pillows to the hospital for patients to use to cushion their incisions after surgery.

Approximately 120 large pillows in addition to an assortment of medium-sized ones for smaller adults and teens and small pillows for babies will be delivered to the hospital on Monday, February 9. The Heart Pillow Ministries includes 25 members ranging in age from 10 to 83. They meet the first Tuesday of each month to sew and assemble the pillows. “The pillows are so beneficial and meaningful to us,” said Frances Bains, group leader. “We create them out of love.” Bains brought the idea to San Antonio from Alabama, where she was involved in a similar project.

Made of brightly colored fabric, one side sewn from print material and the other from a solid color, each pillow has a tag that reads “Alamo Heights United Methodist Church, You are loved.” Eleven-year-old Nicki Henkes, one of the younger members of the group, adds her name to the tags on the pillows that she sews as a message of hope and encouragement to parents whose children use the pillows.

Renee Fletcher, R.N., director of cardiac rehabilitation services at Methodist Heart Hospital, says that patients who have had heart surgery “hug” the pillows when they cough so they can have a more “productive” cough and also when they sneeze to ease discomfort.

STORY IDEA

Opportunities for a visual story with a Valentine’s Day slant will occur Monday, February 9, at 10 a.m. when the group delivers several bags of pillows in the South Tower driveway at Methodist Hospital, 7700 Floyd Curl Drive. Media should enter the surface lot on Floyd Curl and park in that lot. Hospital staff will help sewing group members unload the pillows and carry them into the hospital where a grateful patient will receive the first pillow. Renee Fletcher, R.N., director of cardiac rehabilitation services, and Bains will be available for interviews.

If you are interested in doing a story, please phone JoAnn King, 575-0171. For media assistance during the weekend, please phone Methodist Hospital, 575-4000, and ask for the public relations representative on call.