Girl Scouts earn silver award while bringing joy to hospice patients
A pair of Medford Girl Scouts recently completed their Silver Award with a project of making pillowcases for patients at Hope Hospice and Palliative Care of Medford.
Kadance Fox and Natasha Butt are both 15-year-old freshman members of Girl Scout Troop #7025. Kadence attends Northland Lutheran High School and Natasha attends Medford Area Senior High School. The Silver Award is the second highest award given by Girl Scouts.
The decision to make pillowcases was decided on between the girls. “We got the idea from people telling us that there are people in the community that you could brighten their day and you can send them hope. It also helps our community by giving the patients at Hope Hospice a gift to lift their spirits,” Natasha said.
“I thought the patients at Hope Hospice would enjoy them,” Kadance said.
Together the girls have made many pillowcases. Kadance has made seven pillow cases with the help of her grandmother. She said sewing them took about eight hours.
“I made 12 pillow cases so far but plan to make more for them as they need them over the next three years till I graduate from high school,” Natasha said.
The girls plan to pass the project down to a younger group of Girl Scouts to continue in the future. Natasha explains that typically Silver Award projects take place between sixth and eighth grades, but with COVID-19 it ended up taking longer.
Kadance said she picked out Christmas and Thanksgiving patterns and the rest were random colors in the fabrics her mother had available. She said that she followed the pattern of a standard pillow case with the help of her grandmother.
“We decided on a hot dog style (because the name caught my attention) which was a style that hid the seams on the pillowcases or a ‘French Seams.’ It is a good choice since they get washed a lot and then there is no raw edges to show because they are all enclosed,” Natasha said.
While both girls had sewing experience in the past, for Kadance she only recently learned how to use a sewing machine. Natasha had a little more experience in sewing having done a small quilt, some fleece blankets and even some different pillowcases.
Both girls enjoy being part of Girl Scouts citing the chance to learn and experience new things as highlights.
“I get to go on adventures and learn new projects. I like helping people and pets. It is a good feeling to give and donate,” Kadance said. “My mom and I made cookie platters for our older neighbors and it was such a good feeling to see how happy and thankful they were,” she said.
“My favorite thing about being in Girl Scouts is meeting new friends and helping people in the community. Meeting new friends is fun because you get to go to different camps and learn new things and you can stay in touch with your new friends you meet. Helping people in the community lifts their spirits and helps the community,” Natasha said.
Both girls are planning on using the skills and experience in Girl Scouts in their future lives. Kadance said she plans to become a veterinary technician. “I love animals and want to help them,” she said.
Natasha wants to be an athletic trainer. “I’m athletic and love helping someone with an injury,” she said.
