Girl Guides create pillowcases to bring smiles to sick children

TORONTO — At the Mississauga Girl Guide Centre, something wonderful is happening inside.

The girls, aged nine to 11, are making pillowcases as part of their community service project, and in doing so, are creating smiles for children when they need it the most.

“It makes me feel happy that somebody is gonna be happy out of us just making some little pillowcases,” says Ashleigh Dzis, a girl guide at the centre. “That it will make a big difference for them.”

This unit partnered with Ryan’s Case for Smiles, a volunteer organization that creates pillowcases and distributes them to children in hospitals across Canada.

“When they’re in the hospital, they’re away from their home, they’re away from familiarities, they’re away from friends and family,” says Alanna Banks, volunteer coordinator for Ryan’s Case for Smiles. “Having something handmade and bright and cheery and colorful is really important to help them feel secure.”

For the girls and guide leaders here at the centre, the cause hits close to home. One of their very own, 12-year old Emma Humphrys, received a pillowcase last year during her hospital stay.

“She’s a third year guide, and last year she was diagnosed with leukemia,” says Guide leader, Allison Van Wagner.

“We in the past have done pillowcases with Ryan’s Case for Smiles, but with Emma having this diagnosis, to our girls and to our leaders, we had a really personal connection to it.”

The aim of Girl Guides of Canada is to be responsible citizens and to be an active part of the community, and for these little girls, Emma has empowered them to be the best that they can be.

“We’re all great,” says Dzis. “To be a girl guide means to be a very powerful girl and to be strong.”