Katie Snow, a 17 year old Woodbury, New Jersey resident, gives new mom Veronica Rodriguez a hand-sewn pillow as part of her Girl Scouts Gold Award project. The goal of Katie's project, entitled "Pillows for Patients," is to give women receiving care from Lourdes maternity and gynecology units a personal, comforting item to help them cope with any discomfort they may be experiencing.

The Girl Scout Gold Award represents the highest achievement in Girl Scouting. Open only to girls in high school, this prestigious award challenges scouts to change the world by helping their community. Each project must be sustainable so it can be carried on to help others.

Katie chose the Pillows for Patients project as her Gold Award with the hope of supporting women in the community. She sought donations to buy material to make the pillows. She also organized teams of young people to help sew 100 pillows in all. Katie then created a plan that would allow the project to continue. She will oversee the project past her goal until someone else takes the lead.

At Lourdes, unit nurse Teddie Belz, RN, served as Katie's mentor. To date, Katie has delivered 75 pillows to Lourdes patients. She will deliver the remaining 25 pillows over the next few weeks.

Katie has been a Girl Scout for the past 12 years and is in the Wenonah Troop -- part of the Girl Scout Council of Southern New Jersey.

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