By Alicia Kelso

Upper Arlington resident Lorraine Clark has thoughts and ideas that seem to travel at the speed of light. Perhaps that explains how the 58-year-old became a jack of all trades: she is an accomplished seamstress, former model and minister, retired nursing home health aide, youth volunteer and speaker and a visionary.

Who else possibly would have thought a simple pillow could influence so many lives?

In 2000, the wheels in Clark’s head started turning at full speed when she caught a commercial for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, which works to find cures for pediatric cancer. It hit her particularly hard because she started working with youths in 1978, speaking at community and recreation centers and lecturing at schools.

“The kids in this commercial were so resilient and positive. It really impressed me and I started thinking about what I could do to help them,” Clark says.

She was working with many hospitals in the area at the time, as well as taking care of Jack Nicklaus’ mother, Helen, through her home health aide career. The two brainstormed ideas and Clark had an “a-ha” moment.

“Doing hospital work made me realize that when patients needed a message left for them, they often didn’t get them. Either nurses or staff members were too busy to deliver them, or they just got lost,” she says. “I thought if these patients had a pillow with a pocket, the message could just be slipped into the pocket. It’s really so simple, but so important.”

She did some research to make sure nothing in the fabric would affect the patients, and then pitched the idea to Nationwide Children’s Hospital, which gave her a green light to deliver these special pillows. Clark also created “pillow bags” – similar to pillow cases but with a drawstring – because she noticed many patients didn’t have luggage.

The items not only allowed for easier delivery of notes and cards from loved ones, but also included messages of encouragement from Clark herself, as well as stuffed animals and toys.

“The whole idea was to send a message of love to medically fragile and terminally ill patients, to let them know their determination is appreciated and to help them with the healing process as much as I could,” Clark says.

Her idea, which came to be known as Project So Loved, grew tremendously within the first year, with distribution to Children’s, Dublin’s JamesCare, the Ohio State University Hospital and Wyndham Lawn Orphanage Home in New York. Clark estimates she’s donated at least 300 pillows thus far and is continuously updating her inventory.

Although Clark has been sewing since she was 13, and has seven sewing machines in her basement, she couldn’t keep up with the demands on her own. She solicited help from children at her church and more space and machines from the Stitching Post and JoAnn Etc. in Reynoldsburg.

Eventually she retired from her home health aide career, but kept speaking within the Columbus City Schools and at the Franklin County Detention Home and Scioto Juvenile Corrections Facility. Clark realized if she combined the work with these juveniles and Project So Loved, it would be a win-win situation. She began teaching girls at the Scioto facility, ages 15 and up, how to sew. She continues to volunteer a couple of days a week for about two hours at a time, teaching anywhere between four and seven girls each session.

Project So Loved has since transitioned into a curriculum-based motivational/self-esteem program to give hope to youths “that have fallen through the cracks of our system,” Clark says.

“The goal is to teach the girls tangible skills so they’re not lifers in this facility. I am not just teaching them how to sew, I am teaching them to look professional when they show up to do this, to speak articulately and to remind them they’re helping others, which increases their personal worth and allows them to grow,” Clark says.

The youths design age-appropriate gift items, learn how to embellish those items and get experience with arts and crafts. They also learn math skills through design, pattern drafting and seam allowances. They are also encouraged to include their own message of encouragement for patients, according to Clark, which allows them to be creative and to focus on someone in a positive way. This message can be conveyed through embroidery, images, books, poetry or letters.

“The idea is to instill hope that they can become somebody and do something good for someone else that is beneficial for the whole of our society,” Clark says. “I am excited for these youths to celebrate their purpose, embrace opportunities, maximize their potential and give to others.”

The program continues to grow, and Clark’s eventual goal is to expand throughout the country, especially to more juvenile facilities. Right now, she has a basement full of fabrics with patterns as diverse as the patients themselves – including clouds, hearts, butterflies, John Deere logos, snowboarders, guitars and soccer balls.

Clark has received some donations, but has footed most of the bill so far. She is looking for volunteers to help sew and for monetary or supply donations. Project So Loved has an ongoing fundraiser: for $25, donors can purchase a pillow for themselves as well as for a cancer patient, which the juveniles create through the program. The patient’s pillow will also include a note saying “You are so loved,” followed by the donor’s name.

“It’s a win-win-win situation. You get something, the patient gets something and the juveniles get something,” Clark says.

For more information on the program or volunteer opportunities, contact Clark at 614-732-0595 or 614-370-3539, or e-mail .

Alicia Kelso is editor of Upper Arlington Magazine.