Donating homemade comfort pillows to hospice patients has been a 14 year tradition for Sandy Tucci’s Marcy Elementary School class.

It started after Tucci’s father received hospice treatment.

"My dad was a patient at the Siegenthaler Center in 2005, and I saw the need for comfort pillows,” she says.

Since then, her class has used leftover material from the classroom’s Santa sack to sew and stuff their own homemade pillows.

Carmine Getz is a student who’s participated in the project multiple times.

"It's around Christmas, and that's a good gift to give people, the gift of hope and comfort," said Getz.

It’s a project that inspired 5^th grader Valerie Cieslak to make a dozen from her home.

"I like being able to help people, I know these people are in very much so need. And my grandfather actually got helped by hospice,” Cieslak said.

In addition to providing an opportunity to give back, the project also allows students to understand the situations of the patients they’re helping.

Their gifts have continued to make an impact on patients throughout the last fourteen years.

"I just went into one of our patients who is a teacher, and she was just stunned to know that children would take the time to think about her and our patients, and be excited about it,” says Judy Tastor, Hospice & Palliative Care Children's Services Coordinator.

Tucci adds she received an unforgettable phone call from a family that was helped.

"I actually had a woman call me one August, and she thanked for these hospice pillows, because her last memory of her husband was smiling, comfortable, with these pillows all around him," said Tucci.