‘Pillows for Peace’ Scenery Hill girl assembles goodie bags to comfort children at shelter
SCENERY HILL – It’s a rainy Tuesday afternoon, and 12-year-old Nina Thompson is sitting at a table in the living room of her grandmother’s Scenery Hill home, surrounded by coloring books, crayons, toiletries, bath towels, washcloths and small toys. Using brightly colored Sharpie pens, she is drawing hearts and flowers on a large brown paper bag on which she has printed the words “Pillows for Peace.”
When Thompson finishes decorating the bag, she carefully fills it with a pillow tucked inside a colorful homemade pillowcase, a mesh bag containing toothpaste, a hair brush and other toiletries, a new bath towel and washcloth wrapped with a bow, and some of the toys.
Since August, Thompson and her grandmother, Mary Thompson, have made 83 of the bags, which they deliver to the Washington Women’s Shelter for the children of women who are staying there.
“We were surprised when she came in and told us what she was doing,” said Kelly Young, donations and resources coordinator at Domestic Violence Services of Southwestern Pennsylvania. “It was so special coming from a child for another child. It’s nice to provide children at the shelter with items of their own. Often, they come here with nothing but the clothes on their back. It’s been a big hit with all the clients. The children know that it’s something that’s theirs.”
The Washington shelter, which is available 24 hours a day to women and their children who are victims of domestic violence, has 15 beds and two cribs.
Thompson, a seventh-grader and high honors student at Bentworth Middle School, said she has always wanted to start a charity project, “but I could never think of what project to do,” she said.
“We decided to do the Pillows for Peace project because I had an interest in it. We wanted to use pillows because they’re comforting and the kids there should have something of their own,” said Thompson.
Thompson acknowledges that she has gotten a lot of support for her project.
Members of Davidson United Methodist Church, which Thompson attends with her grandparents, donate supplies, which they place in a basket at the back of the church.
Two women who are members of Grace United Methodist Church began making pillowcases (before that, Thompson and her grandmother purchased them at stores), and other church members plan to pitch in to produce more.
Dentist Duane Snee of Washington has donated toothbrushes and toothpaste, and Thompson has been invited to eight area churches to talk about Pillows for Peace.
“For us, it’s a fun time together. We really like doing this, and we get excited when we go to the shelter,” said Mary Thompson, who, along with her husband, gives Thompson some cash each month to buy supplies.
Thompson shops with her grandparents for sales on items such as shampoo, nail polish, lotion, baby powder and toys, keeps a record of all purchases and donations, and writes thank-you notes for all monetary donations and supplies given to her.
Thompson’s grandmother taught her how to sew, and the young activist sews the water-resistant mesh bags on her sewing machine.
Thompson’s project has grown larger than she imagined, but the soccer player and cheerleader, who is also raising two pigs for 4-H, said she plans to keep making bags at least until she completes high school.
“I like doing this for kids who are in hard situations,” said Thompson. “I want to do it for as long as I can.”