Health care heroes: What’s a sewing angel?

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, Advocate Good Shepherd Hospital’s Volunteer Auxiliary sprang into action. To date, a group of 15 volunteers has sewn more than 300 headbands and 800 scrub caps for nurses and other clinical team members.

A former patient, Chris Persson, has been a volunteer at Advocate Good Shepherd for three years. She sees making the headbands and scrub caps as one way to repay her care team.

“I’m not doing any of this for pats on the back,” she said. “My care team was amazing. They make you feel like more than a patient, more like a personal friend. They’re the best.”

The group of volunteers created a team to bounce ideas off of one another and share the most efficient way to make the headbands and caps. Once Chris is done sewing, she leaves the finished products on the porch for delivery. Like magic, more supplies for headbands and caps appear in their place.

Each bonnet/headband was inserted into a small plastic bag and contained a “Thank You” note to each nurse recipient with the following words of thanks:

Thank You

Accept this nurse’s scarf/headband with our appreciation for the care you are providing to our fellow citizens.

As your Advocate Good Shepherd Hospital Volunteers we have been asked to stay at home.

But we are grateful we can help by sewing these items for you.

We wish we could do more, but our prayers and good wishes are with you.

We hope to be back soon helping support your patients.

                                    Advocate Good Shepherd Hospital Volunteer Auxiliary

The hospital nursing staff say wearing the homemade headgear it is like a “hug and love “for each nurse and that they add some pretty color to their work space. They’ve dubbed the volunteers their “Sewing Angels.”