Posted on 05/31/2005 3:48:29 AM PDT by Republican Babe
Oak Lawn woman thanks troops with pillows
December 25, 2004
BY JIM HOOK
The Finn home in Oak Lawn is filled with pillows. Not your average pillows. These are the slimmed-down airline variety, and they're covered with patriotic cases stitched together with love and admiration for the men and women in the military.
Christina Finn and a battalion of volunteers have stitched together more than 500 patriotic pillowcases since June 2004 for soldiers injured in Iraq. More than 400 pillows have been shipped to military hospitals in Washington, D.C., Maryland and Texas, says Finn, an Oak Lawn mother of three whose son Ryan is in the Army in Iraq and whose husband, Dan, is a disabled Army veteran from the Vietnam War.
"These soldiers deserve to be recognized," says Finn, who calls the effort the Patriotic Pillow Project.
December 25, 2004
BY JIM HOOK
The Finn home in Oak Lawn is filled with pillows. Not your average pillows. These are the slimmed-down airline variety, and they're covered with patriotic cases stitched together with love and admiration for the men and women in the military.
Christina Finn and a battalion of volunteers have stitched together more than 500 patriotic pillowcases since June 2004 for soldiers injured in Iraq. More than 400 pillows have been shipped to military hospitals in Washington, D.C., Maryland and Texas, says Finn, an Oak Lawn mother of three whose son Ryan is in the Army in Iraq and whose husband, Dan, is a disabled Army veteran from the Vietnam War.
"These soldiers deserve to be recognized," says Finn, who calls the effort the Patriotic Pillow Project. "This is a small way of saying thanks for everything they have done for us. I wish we could do more, but at least they know we are thinking of them."
Accompanying each pillow is a card containing a poem about veterans and a note expressing gratitude for the soldiers' sacrifices.
Finn retired earlier this year as a surgical technician. She says she has spent thousands of her own dollars buying the fabric and shipping the completed pillows to hospitals.
She spends seven days a week cutting and stitching pillowcases for the pillows, donated by United Airlines. She and other volunteers across the country wrap them in quilted cases and ship them to recovering soldiers. Sixty were shipped to Camp Victory in Baghdad, where Finn's son's Army National Guard unit -- the 1st Cavalry 101st Battalion -- is stationed.
Can stitch 50 in two days
United donated 1,000 pillows. But Finn says, "If I got a million pillows, they wouldn't get wasted. I'd send them to the senior veterans in the VA hospitals."
She said she can stitch together 50 pillowcases every two days. When she completes 100, she stuffs them in plastic bags and ships them off. She sent out 100 pillows earlier this week to Brooke Army Medical Center in Texas, where many soldiers burned in Iraq are recovering.
"So much is going overseas to our soldiers in Iraq, as it should," she says. "But the soldiers coming home injured are being overlooked. That's why I started this project. I'm proud of all our troops."
Anyone who wants to help stitch pillowcases can e-mail Finn at Christina@patrioticpillowproject. com. Daily Southtown or go to the website
http://www.patrioticpillowproject.com/main/index.php
Your completed pillow case/cases with your thank- you note and loving message/poem attached should be mailed to the address posted on the Patriot Pillow Project website.
Pillow cases for our injured soldiers Ping.
Thanks for posting. My Ladies Aux of the American Legion do lap quilts/throws (3 ft x 3 ft) for the VA Hospital spinal cord unit here in Memphis, TN. I usually turn in 2 each month. This is a neat idea.
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