Pillows for a Cause

Founded by Nadia C., Pillows for a Cause began in November of 2014, Nadia, an 8th grade student at Truett Wilson Middle School was presented with a speech prompt for her Communications Applications class. She had to do something to change the world, then write about it. Nadia decided to use her skills of pillow-making learned in her 7th grade skills for living class to make a difference. She wanted people to know that they were loved. Nadia began to search for orphanages and shelters in the DFW area and stumbled across ACH Services, an organization that helps children going through a rough time. When she found out that they had a shelter of kids ages 10-17, she called ACH and asked if she could bring in some pillows, "less than 50, more than 10" she told the worker. After she got the "ok" to bring in pillows, she gathered her collection of pillows sewn that summer, about 3 or 4 pillows that she had sewn in her spare time. Nadia began to gather t-shirts from her family and friends, along with any scrap fabric that they had. She sewed 20 pillows in all and put hot pink tags on them to show that they were from her. Why hot pink? It was her favorite color. Then, she gathered up the pillows and took them to ACH Services. The worker there thanked her for the pillows, gave Nadia, her mom, and sister a tour of part of the facility, and gave Nadia and interview for her speech. After taking lots of notes and thanking the kind workers, Nadia went home and wrote a speech accompanied by a PowerPoint. During the first week of December, when Nadia gave her speech to the her 6th period class, her teacher and peers were so moved by it that they wanted to help too. Nadia and a group of friends began coming up with fundraising ideas, dates, and advertising techniques for the next phase of the project. The whole school soon knew about the Pillows for a Cause project and kids from 6th, 7th, and 8th grade came together to show children going through a rough time that they are loved. Now that Nadia's school has become involved, she wants to take the Pillows for a Cause project to middle and high schools in the Northwest Independent School District, then the entire DFW area, the whole state of Texas, eventually the entire nation. She believes that middle and high schoolers have the power to change the world, one pillow at a time.