Blogland of Earl Capps: Pillows for Patriots - a worthwhile Lowcountry cause

Pillows for Patriots - a worthwhile Lowcountry cause

One of the toughest things about serving overseas is getting a good night's sleep. To address that challenge, Beaufort resident Barbara Farrior and Beaufort-based Harris Pillow Supply are teaming up to provide free pillows for men and women serving overseas. According to the Hilton Head Island Packet:

Founded with the motto "They'll sleep better so we'll sleep better," a nonprofit group formed by a pair of Beaufort military moms aims to help troops deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan get a better night's rest.

Barbara Farrior was watching a segment on NBC's "The Today Show" last week about a Midland Park, N.J., sewing school that had sent more than 1,000 pillows to troops overseas. With her own son set to deploy to Iraq in less than two months, Farrior decided to take action.

"I called up a friend and asked if she wanted to sew some pillows," Farrior said. "I saw the pictures of those guys sleeping under Humvees and wherever they could and thought, 'You think you've had a bad night's sleep.' "

The end result is pillows which are custom-made for field conditions. Thus far, she's raised about $1000 for her efforts. Each pillow costs about $1.50 to make, but about twice that for shipping costs.

When contacted by the Blogland, Beaufort County State Representative Shannon Erickson had considerable praise for their efforts:

I am so honored to have folks in SC House District 124 who are so caring and innovative. A great collaborative between small business -Harris Pillow Company - and private citizens means huge success! We are blessed to have such fine men and women serving in our military, a pillow is just a small token of our thanks!

If you want to help out, you can contact Barbara Farrior at 843-525-9262 or email her: bfarrior@charter.net.

8 Response to "Pillows for Patriots - a worthwhile Lowcountry cause"

Anonymous 28/7/09 16:47

We shipped out our first 150 pillows that will be going to Iraq--Barb Farrior
Mike Reino 28/7/09 17:55

I got the Facebook message on this from Shannon, and I was thinking. They have to carry them with them, so wouldn't it be more efficient to carry air pillows? They'd be cheaper to ship, and take up a lot less space on patrol. Not quite as comfy, of course...
baton rouge mg 28/7/09 20:42

Great cause and Mike dont ruin the moment
Anonymous 29/7/09 08:22

Would seem to me, with such an effort of local people, maybe their state representative should contact the local military installation who probably make regular flights to Iraq and Afghanistan to see if that on a supply mission, there might be enough room to load some boxes of pillows for the troops. Then the cost of shipping would be zero and more money could be used for the pillows.
Earl Capps 29/7/09 11:23

Come on folks, for an effort that is only two weeks old, they've overcome a lot of hurdles already. Just give 'em time to deal with the rest!
Anonymous 30/7/09 09:52

I was not trying to imply that they were not doing a good job, just thought that if they contacted a military installation with the weight of a state representative, they might get a better response from the military commanders about using some space on planes during supply missions. Everyone knows that the military moves at their own pace, but I think with a state representative contacting them, the military might move a little faster in saying yes to shipping the pillows on supply runs.
Mike Reino 30/7/09 22:19

Me too, Earl. Not criticizing at all - just giving additional ideas for what's required.
Anonymous 14/8/09 11:05

So far we have shipped over 2,300 pillows to soldiers in combat zones in Afghanistan and Iraq. We thought about the military airlifting pillows, but the problem is them getting lost in the shuffle and sitting on some tarmac overseas. Shipping them directly to the units is certainly much more expensive, but they get where they are supposed to. Barb