TAMPA BAY

COORDINATORS

Jamie Hendrickx
Flora Bradbury

Email: cases4smiles4tampabay@yahoo.com

HOSPITALS

  • All Children’s John Hopkins 
  • Brandon Regional Medical Center
  • Lakeland Regional
  • Ronald McDonald Charities
  • Sarasota Memorial
  • South FL Baptist
  • St. Joe’s Main
  • St. Joe’s South
  • St. Joe’s Mease
  • Tampa General

DROP OFF SITES

NEWS & EVENTS

Welcome to our Chapter. We hope you will join us in helping children feel better to heal better. 

 

Stay healthy, Pillowcase Warriors, we need our village strong! 

Want to stay informed of everything that is going on with our Tampa Bay Chapter?  Sign up for our newsletter at the bottom of the page or follow us on Facebook at //www.facebook.com/caseforsmilestampabay/

 

Upcoming Sew Days

As we all adjust to the new normal, we ask that you follow the guidelines established by the location where you are meeting.  We are recommending the following guidelines, however, if the location has stricter requirements, please follow the stricter requirements.  We will be meeting with the following changes in place.

  1.  Social distancing:  Please maintain 6 feet between you and the other people at your sewing location.
  2. Masks:  Some stores are requesting that you wear a mask.  If this is the case, please do so.  Also, if you live in a County or City where masks are required indoors, please wear masks indoors.
  3. We will be disinfecting equipment and surfaces before and after each event.  (including pins, rotary cutters, scissors, machines, rulers, etc.)
  4. All pillowcases produced must be held 2 weeks after packaging before delivery.  (The current theory is that this is enough time for any virus particles to die.)

 

How can you help?

  • Sew pillowcases and drop them off at a drop off site.
  • Donate child friendly fabric
  • Donate funds for us to purchase fabric (all donations are 100% tax deductible)
  • Donate your time – come help us make pillowcases at a sew day
  • Organize your own sew day with your friends or community

 

June 13: Inspire! Quilting and Sewing Sew Day

Join us at Inspire! Quilting and Sewing (101 N. Collins St. Plant City, FL 33563) on Monday, June 13: 10am-2pm.  We will make fun, bright pillowcases to distribute to children in 10 bay area hospitals.   (This event is the second Monday of every month.)

June 14: Maureen Gauzza Library Sew Day

Join us at the Maureen Gauzza Library (11211 Countryway Blvd., Tampa, FL 33626) on Tuesday, June 14: 10am-4pm.  We will make fun, bright pillowcases to distribute to children in 10 bay area hospitals.  (This event is the second Tuesday of every month.)

June 28: Quilter’s Haven & More Sew Day

Join us at Quilter’s Haven & More (925 10th St E, Palmetto, FL 34221) on Tuesday, June 28: 10am-2pm.  We will make fun, bright pillowcases to distribute to children in 10 bay area hospitals.  (This event is on either the third or fourth Tuesday of the month.)

 

July 11: Inspire! Quilting and Sewing **CUTTING** Day

Join us at Inspire! Quilting and Sewing (101 N. Collins St. Plant City, FL 33563) on Monday, July 11: 10am-2pm.  We will only be cutting kits today in preparation for September’s Miles of Smiles.  Please bring a rotary cutter and mat if you are comfortable with cutting.  If you are not comfortable cutting – it’s ok, we still have plenty of other tasks we need help with!   (This event is the second Monday of every month.)

July 12: Maureen Gauzza Library Sew Day

Join us at the Maureen Gauzza Library (11211 Countryway Blvd., Tampa, FL 33626) on Tuesday, July 12: 10am-4pm.  We will make fun, bright pillowcases to distribute to children in 10 bay area hospitals.  (This event is the second Tuesday of every month.)

July 26: Quilter’s Haven & More Sew Day

Join us at Quilter’s Haven & More (925 10th St E, Palmetto, FL 34221) on Tuesday, July 26: 10am-2pm.  We will make fun, bright pillowcases to distribute to children in 10 bay area hospitals.  (This event is on the third or fourth Tuesday of the month.)

 

August 8: Inspire! Quilting and Sewing **CUTTING** Day

Join us at Inspire! Quilting and Sewing (101 N. Collins St. Plant City, FL 33563) on Monday, Aug 8: 10am-2pm.  We will only be cutting kits today in preparation for September’s Miles of Smiles.  Please bring a rotary cutter and mat if you are comfortable with cutting.  If you are not comfortable cutting – it’s ok, we still have plenty of other tasks we need help with!   (This event is the second Monday of every month.)

August 9: Maureen Gauzza Library Sew Day

Join us at the Maureen Gauzza Library (11211 Countryway Blvd., Tampa, FL 33626) on Tuesday, Aug 9: 10am-4pm.  We will make fun, bright pillowcases to distribute to children in 10 bay area hospitals.  (This event is the second Tuesday of every month.)

Aug 23: Quilter’s Haven & More Sew Day

Join us at Quilter’s Haven & More (925 10th St E, Palmetto, FL 34221) on Tuesday, Aug 23: 10am-2pm.  We will make fun, bright pillowcases to distribute to children in 10 bay area hospitals.  (This event is on the third or fourth Tuesday of the month.)

 

September – Miles of Smiles Campaign is coming!  Watch for more details as we get closer.

 

Videos:

Pillowcase Instructions:  From how to cut the fabric to how to finish the case on either a sewing machine or a surger, this video has it all!  https://youtu.be/0beMuQUahBA

3 Minute Pillowcase all on a surger featuring our Speed Demon volunteer, Nancy Pridmore:  https://youtu.be/HfgC8aFN_Sk

 

Shops / Locations Update – as of 1/24/22 (Alphabetical order):
*Cotton Patch is on extremely limited hours, so no sew days.
 
*Fabric Warehouse – Looking for someone to lead sew days at this location!
 
*Inspire! Quilting and Sewing – holding sew days, but seating is limited. Call shop to reserve your seat.
 
*Libraries  – Sew days have resumed!
 
*Modern Sewist – on hold until May 2022
*Quilter’s Haven – NEW LOCATION as of Feb 2022!!
 
*Scrap and Sew – Sew days have resumed, but seating is limited.  Contact cases4smiles4tampabay@yahoo.com if you are interested in attending a sew day at this location.
 
*Sweet Darling – Sew days restarting soon.
 
 
 
Hospitals update (as of 1/24/22):
*Advent Hospital (Formerly Florida Hospital) – Accepting Donations
*All Children’s – Accepting Donations
 
*Brandon Regional Hospital – Accepting Donations
 
*Lakeland Regional – Accepting Donations
 
*Plant City Baptist – Accepting Donations
 
*Sarasota Memorial – Accepting Donations
 
*St. Joe’s Main – Accepting Donations
 
*St. Joe’s South – On hold
 
*St. Joe’s Mease – Accepting Donations
 
*TGH – Accepting donations
 
 
 
So what does this mean? 
 
As you can see, our hospitals are ready for pillowcases, but we have almost no sew days to continue to supply them.  Thankfully, we had a very successful MOPS campaign in September with over 4800 pillowcases sewn and donated!!  We now have a backstock in storage that will sustain us for now.   We still have very few finished kits available, but the backorder of fabric has started to come in, so we are working hard to fix this situation.  The incredible mask making efforts of communities across the country in addition to supply shortages (due to factory shut downs) has resulted in difficulty in finding affordable fabric.  We still need our village to help us.  Please, if you can sew at home and drop off cases to a donation site, we need your help.  We have volunteers ready to wash, iron and bag for you, but we need the cases sewn.
 
 
 

 

Ways to help:

  • Come to a sew day: Bring your sewing machine or serger and a basic sewing kit (thread, scissors, needles, etc.). You don’t have to know how to sew to help at a sew day.  We will teach you!!  We also need help ironing, bagging, counting, and boxing the cases.
  • Donate Money for fabric: Monetary donations for pillowcases is always welcome and much needed! There are no paid positions in this organization – we are all volunteers.  100% of the money donated buys fabric for pillowcases.  All other supplies are donated.  You can donate through the website by clicking the “Donate Now” button in the upper right corner of your screen and choosing “Florida-Tampa Bay” in the “Chapter” field.  You can also donate in person at any sew day.  If you would like to donate by mail, contact us by email at cases4smiles4tampabay@yahoo.com.
  • Hold your own sew day! Gather a group of friends, co-workers, church members, neighbors, or other group and hold your own sew day.  Need help running it?  Have questions?  Contact us!  We’ll help you!  Cases4smiles4tampabay@yahoo.com
  • Make pillowcases and drop them off at one of the convenient drop off locations. Directions to make a pillowcase can be found here:  //caseforsmiles.org/get-involved/#sew   Several quilt shops in the area have generously offered to be drop off locations for anyone wishing to contribute pillowcases.  Be sure to check the shop’s website for the hours of operation.