Have you ever wondered how to make your old blue jeans go the extra mile? John and Tina Elias of South Valley Pillow Mission have an answer: turn them into pillows for a good cause! South Valley Pillow Mission has been taking donated denim and processing it alongside foam mats to create a stuffing mixture, which is used to fill pillows that are then sent to hospitals throughout Eastern Europe.
The process takes place just two miles outside of Winkler, at 11112 Road 24 West. John Elias has taken farm machinery and repurposed it to shred donated denim and sponge mats. As for the sewing facility, South Valley Pillow Mission has taken the former MCC meat canning train car and has converted it into a year-round workspace. Here, volunteers sew cases for the pillows and stuff them with a mixture of shredded sponge and denim— a ratio that Elias has worked on perfecting.
These pillows are then sent internationally through the Christian Aid Ministries, an organization whose well-established programs have enabled pillows made in Manitoba to sit in hospital rooms as far as Belarus. Jay Martin, a representative for Christian Aid Ministries, was a guest speaker at the BBQ and shared his own interest in the project: “I’m really excited about this,” Martin added. “Not only because of supplying pillows to Eastern Europe but finding a very practical way to use rejected...clothing.”
Want to get involved? “Volunteers are needed to prepare material,” said Elias. “We need people to sew them, we need people to mix the [stuffing].” It’s a time-intensive process with a big reward. Contact John and Tina Elias at 204-325-7628 for more information.
