About a week or so ago, a group of women gathered at the Haymarket home of Joan Walsh for what could be described as a pillow party, of sorts. However, this party did not include a gaggle of giggling teen-agers playfully battling it out with goose-down pillows. Instead, it was volunteers from the Assistance League of Northern Virginia. And they were making and bagging up the fluffy creations, as well as creating bags of clothing and toiletries for adults, to drop off at Inova Fairfax Hospital's SANE (Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner) program.
"The league has been doing this for about five years," said Sue Brown, a nurse at Inova Fairfax and coordinator of SANE. "It's been wonderful."
FIVE YEARS AGO, a group of women interested in bringing a branch of the Assistance League to the area started visiting hospitals looking for volunteer work and small projects they may be able to help with. At the time, the group was too small and short on funds to do much else, said Walsh, a co-founder of what would become known as Operation Hugs.
The women learned about the SANE program and that at the time it was seeing about 300 to 400 sexually and physically assaulted patients, including children, each year. The nurses at SANE help collect evidence after an alleged assault. In addition, follow-up care is provided. Currently, SANE is averaging about 500 patients of all ages a year, said Brown.
"At the time, other Assistance Leagues across the nation were giving Teddy bears to similar programs. We couldn’t afford Teddy bears," Walsh said. "One of the other ladies, she was a seamstress, developed the idea of creating a heart-shaped pillow. Then suggested putting a pocket on it for small toys."
So began Operation Hugs. The volunteers would cut out the heart-shaped pattern from various materials, sew it into a pillow, collect or purchase small toys and about once a month drop off about 30 pillows for the child victims that came through SANE's doors.
"We typically use the pillows at the end of the examination. Sometimes, with the very young population, we use it as a distraction during the exam. It gives them something to hold onto," Brown said. "The pillows are very small, about 10 inches in diameter. Just right for a child to hold onto and they're very colorful with age-appropriate toys inside."
OVER TIME, AS THE CLUB grew, so did its resources. Eventually the volunteers began making Assault Survival Kits for the adults, which contain sweat suits, underwear and personal hygiene products. The women bag up the kits, and include a label identifying the size of the clothing. About 15 to 20 kits are created each month and delivered with the pillows. And like the pillows, the kits are needed and appreciated.
"Patients don't think, when they’ve been assaulted, that we might take their clothing for evidence or to stop home first to get a change of clothing," Brown said. "It is so important to have [the kits] otherwise they would have to go out in disposable scrub pants. And sometimes, victims still have to go to the police station or something. It helps give them back their dignity."
"Last year, we probably created about 500 pillows and 200 assault kits," Walsh said.
She said the League now receives a lot of donated materials, including toys and toiletries, but they still make everything from hand — mostly holding "work shops" where the women get together to cut and sew.
"Practically everybody in the club does these pillows or bags at some time," Walsh said.
And while the volunteers don't get to see the end result of all their labor, Walsh said nobody minds. "I don't know if I could sleep if I knew these kids personally. The youngest I’m aware of was 7 months old," Walsh said. "I know it's a very worth-while project. It's rewarding."