Soft spot: Volunteer project focuses on presents and pillowcases for children in foster care
Pillowcases stuffed with presents sit ready for delivery to foster children and foster families around Grant County in December 2020.
Matt Boyce/courtesy photo
Matt Boyce snaps a selfie with pillowcases stuffed with gifts for foster children in December 2020.
Pillowcases filled with Christmas presents for children in foster care are loaded in a trailer for delivery in December 2020.
EPHRATA — Matt Boyce said the pillowcase project started because of the generosity of Grant County residents.
Boyce is the administrator for Grant County Guardian Ad Litem program, which supports children in foster care. Administrators and volunteers have sponsored a Christmas party for the kids and their foster families for about a decade, and a group of churches and businesses around Grant County provide the presents. Originally, foster kids got a Christmas stocking filled with presents.
But people donated so many gifts the stockings got to be too small, Boyce said, and they needed something bigger. Besides, a Christmas stocking, as nice as it is, doesn’t have much use before or after Christmas.
But a pillowcase is a different story. A pillowcase can hold a lot more presents, and it can be used before and after Christmas.
The Christmas party was canceled last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but foster kids still got presents, and they will in 2021.
Boyce said volunteers provide presents for all kids in foster care, which he estimated at about 250 children. Originally, the kids who attended the party got presents, but so many people wanted to donate the program was expanded to all foster kids.
There are about 20 people from the churches and businesses who buy the presents and fill the pillowcases.
“I call them my elves,” Boyce said.
The pillowcases are handmade by other volunteers.
“I have a few (people) who love to sew,” he said.
The work of getting the presents is already underway.
“It starts pretty much right now,” Boyce said.
The goal is to have presents purchased by the end of November. The party will be in early December, if there is one. And if not, the presents will be delivered to families at that time.
“As far as the pillowcases, that happens all year round,” he said.
Boyce’s aunt Loveta Boyce organizes the pillowcase project.
“It’s just been lots of fun to see,” she said.
The pillowcase project is soliciting donations of fabric.
“We take all kinds of donations of woven fabric,” Loveta Boyce said.
The material was a little hard to come by in 2020, with a lot of donations going to make masks, Boyce said. But this year has been better, with the help of a very large donation of fabric from Joyson Safety Systems.
Some of the donated fabric isn’t kid-friendly, Loveta Boyce said, but it’s still made into pillowcases. Those are donated to extended care facilities.
“They are happily received (at extended care facilities),” she said.
Currently, about eight to 10 volunteers make pillowcases, she said, and she’s looking for more. Pillowcases are an easy project and she wants folks to know how much fun it is to make them.
The project is a way to make sure the families and kids have a good Christmas, Matt Boyce said.
“Our foster parents and our relative caregivers, they’re pretty amazing people,” he said.
Loveta Boyce said she enjoys working with the volunteers who help make it happen.
“There are all kinds of good people in our community. I love it,” she said.
People who want to donate money, fabric, presents or their skills to the project can contact Matt Boyce at Grant County Youth Services, 509-754-5690.
Cheryl Schweizer can be reached via email at cschweizer@columbiabasinherald.com.
