In over four years, ConKerr Cancer has …

• Delivered over 490,000 cheerful pillowcases to sick children in hospitals across the country.
• Established 125 chapters (so far!) serving children in 225 hospitals and pediatric hospices across the United States, Canada and South Africa.
• Recruited thousands of volunteers – young and old – to sew and donate pillowcases.
• Recognized nationally by Martha Stewart, TEVA Pharmaceuticals, The Philadelphia Eagles, Talbots, Bank of America, Janome, L`Oreal Paris, Macy’s and the Philadelphia Please Touch Museum.

Thank-yous:

“I would like to thank your organization for the pillowcases I received for my daughter.  She is on the oncology unit 8 north at Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh.  She has been in almost 3 weeks now.  She is 15, has Down Syndrome and Autism; and also doesn’t speak.  She has a rare type of sarcoma that is incurable, and the care and chemo they are doing is palliative only.  She is obviously pretty miserable; not able to understand what is wrong with her or what we are doing for her.  She loves the Disney princesses to a level of obsession!  Over Easter one of the nurses gave her one of the pillowcases that have the princess on it.  I wish you could have seen the look on her face when we put it on one of her pillows.  I wanted you to know that your seamstresses made her a little happier on that day.  I hope you can continue your work, and know that you do make a difference.  I also took a second princess themed one that was at the nurse’s station as a back up!  Thanks again, with sincere gratitude.”“My seven year old daughter is leukemia patient at Children’s Memorial Hospital in Chicago.  This past Wednesday, when we went to the outpatient clinic for chemo and a spinal tap, She was the recipient of a beautiful and adorable pillowcase donated by your organization.  I just wanted to say thank you for your time and effort and all of the love and care that you put into this project.  Your kindness doesn’t go unnoticed!  With prayers for a complete recovery for all the patients.”

“I am a Pediatric Intensive Care Nurse at the Janet Weis Children’s Hospital (Geisinger Medical Center) in Danville, Pa. We recently received some of your beautiful pillow cases to distribute to our sick ICU patients, and they are gorgeous. They are such a big hit and the kids love them. A very sick, 11 year old little girl who we will call “Lily” has been a patient on our unit for the past 3 months now, had such a hard time deciding on which pillow case she liked best. We have to sneak the pillow case away from her just so we can wash it!!!! The first pillow case we wore out from washing and now she has a second one. I want to thank you all for all your hard work and dedication. It may not seem like much…..making pillow cases, but this little kind gesture produces so much happiness. The smiles I see on the children’s faces are priceless! Cindy Kerr you are an amazing woman. I commend you on all your hard work, dedication, and undying love you have given to your child. Please keep us in mind for the future, we can always help to spread the happiness! Thank you all so much! God Bless!!!!”

“My 12 year old daughter was diagnosed with a large benign tumor that had invaded her chest taking with it her aortic, esophagus, trachea, and into her spine.  The doctors removed as much as they could hoping the remaining portion would not grow back.  Today,7 months later, the tumor had already grew back taking even more!  She underwent a 12 hour surgery, and, so far a week in the hospital.  We are presently running into some recovery issues and they are working at getting her back to health.  During our first surgery in 3/2007, she was able to take home 2 pillow cases which she cherishes a great deal.  This time, she has been fortunate to be able to get three of them including a pretty pink one with a white small dog on it.  We have a white, small dog at home and she loves the case!  It’s her favorite!  She wants to keep one of the other ones in our family room on the couch because it’s such a good match to our decor.  We have a running joke in our family, because my husband “stole” one of her pillowcases back in 3/2007 when she returned home after the first surgery.  He still uses it today on our bed as his favorite pillow.  She has already warned him NOT to even think about it!! Thanks for the beautiful work you do and for putting the smiles on our children’s faces!”

“My 2 year old grandson has JMML leukemia He has been in Children’s Hospital in New Orleans for 5 1/2 months of the last 7 months. He has received 2 pillowcases over his stay this time and I just wanted to say thank you. He loves the different colors and it brightens his days. One of my friends at work would like to make pillow cases for you. How can she get started and who should she contact? Keep up the good work.”

“Dear kind people of ConKerr Cancer: I first found out about you while my son, recovered from a brain tumor at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. The staff told me there was a basket of which we could pick out a pillowcase. He was not allowed out of his room at that point, so I picked him one. When I got there, not many were left. But one Eagles pillowcase caught my eye. I knew he would like that, and he did. It was one of the first smiles I got during his recovery from surgery. It’s funny, but it’s amazing to know how much one pillowcase can brighten a whole life and a whole room. John is doing much better and is now back home. The pillowcase is now a cheerful reminder of hope and kindness during that horrible and frightening time. Not only did the pillowcase tell us that others have shared in these difficult times, but also that a little touch of love and color helps give you a little more strength to fight through such a serious illness. Again, I thank you all on behalf of my son and the rest of my family.”