Thank you to Lynn Fellinger of Davis County Hospitals for coming and presenting the Pillowcase Project to our 4th grade students. Here is the story of the program through its development:
- In 2005 The Southeast Louisiana (New Orleans) Chapter of the American Red Cross originally created The Pillowcase Project after Hurricane Katrina. CEO Kay Wilkins and her team were inspired to work on an art project with survivors of Katrina while they lived in temporary housing in New Orleans. Wilkins had heard about local college students who carried their belongings in pillowcases while evacuating from the storm, so she worked with an art therapist to design a program for youth and families to decorate their own pillowcases. These pillowcases became emergency supply kit containers.
- 2007-2012 After being successfully implemented in New Orleans, the program quickly spread. The Mississippi; Louisville, Kentucky; and Los Angeles, California, chapters customized and implemented the program in their areas with the help of local donors.
- In late 2013, the Red Cross received a gift from Disney to standardize the program and make it nationally available. Staff members from several Red Cross departments worked closely with experts and chapter staff to create a state-of-the-art, evidence-based program to educate students not only about preparedness and local hazards but also about how to better handle all kinds of emergencies.
- Between September and November 2013, over 3,000 students in 19 Red Cross chapters were taught the new Pillowcase Project curriculum. In early 2014, the program was piloted in 60 Red Cross regions.
- 2014 The pilot chapters provided valuable insight and feedback about the program’s curriculum and implementation. The Red Cross used that information first to modify the program and then expand it.
- Current date: Red Cross chapters have reached hundreds of thousands of third through fifth graders and their families through classroom and after-school presentations run by Presenters, as well through a mobile app called Monster Guard.
Here is a link to check out for more information:
Please feel free to call the elementary office if you have any questions.