It all started with a gift and a special note.
April Sather had just undergone surgery for her breast cancer and was struggling to sleep at night. She would spend the night tossing and turning, trying to get comfortable.
“I’m a side sleeper, so that is kind of an issue,” she said when she described her sleeping troubles.
One day she received a gift from a friend. A heart-shaped pillow made with soft flannel that was light pink with beautiful clouds across it. Sather was able to tuck it under her arm and sleep comfortably throughout the night. This gift, combined with a lovely note a nurse wrote for her after surgery, inspired Sather to want to do the same for others.
“I thought ‘Wouldn’t it be cool if we could make heart-shaped pillows for other breast cancer patients so that after they get out of surgery, they could feel that same love that I received’. I shared the idea with a few ladies at church and the rest is history.”
Once a month for the past year, Healing Hearts Ministry at Warren Belvedere Church meets to sew, stuff, pray, write notes to patients, and package up the hearts to be delivered to local breast cancer patients across the CSRA. There is no commitment and volunteers are welcome to take the materials home if they prefer to work in the comfort of their own homes.
“It makes me feel like I’ve done something that’s worthy of helping someone else go through a hard time in their life,” Susan Elliot says each time they finish up a pillow and are ready to deliver it to a patient.
Elliot is one of the ladies who answered Sather’s call for help with her idea. While she herself has no personal experience with breast cancer, she is a seamstress and was more than happy to use her knowledge and experience in sewing for the program.
The program provides the sewing pattern and the fabric and fluff needed to create the pillows, so all the volunteers have to bring is their hands and good spirits. Sometimes they have speakers during their meetings, and they celebrated their one-year anniversary by having a Georgia Cancer Center patient and Breast Team Nurse Navigator come and speak to the group.
April Sather, Laura Orange (Patient), and Andrea Rhoden (Nurse Navigator) pose for a photo
If you would like more information, or to make a donation to assist the program, visit their website, select the Belvedere campus, then make the message out to April Sather or Susan Elliot. You can also visit their Facebook page and get in contact with them through it.
