Do good, the rest will follow: Launching Good Pillow Fight

When my daughter (Michelle) was 11 years old, she experienced a medical incident that resulted in a stay at a children’s hospital. While her stay at the hospital was frightening and stressful, the experience inspired me to start a business that gives back. As the Founder, I thought Make a Difference Day was the perfect day to launch Good Pillow Fight. The purpose of Good Pillow Fight is to help kids get well, which is why 50% of our profits go to nonprofits supporting children’s hospitals, pediatric cancer research, and helping children get well. Together, we can make a difference.

When A Fractured Spine Was The Good News

One day, Michelle was complaining about her hip hurting. Since she was 11 years old, I told her it was growing pains. Needless to say, I’m a bit of a suck-it-up kind of mom. A couple of weeks later, she stopped me and said her hip was hurting all the time and she wanted to see a doctor right away. 

Okay, at this point it seemed a bit more serious so I called for an appointment. After speaking with the nurse, she squeezes Michelle in during lunchtime. It was a Friday and I was grateful to have her checked out before the weekend. After her pediatrician examined her, he scheduled an X-ray and blood tests. 

Later that afternoon, I got a call from her pediatrician. He told me the X-ray showed a spot on her hip and she needed to go to Children’s Hospital the next day to have more tests done. My world stopped! I remember my prayer was, “Dear God, help my daughter. Help me to know what to do. Help me to know what questions to ask and to know what to say to Michelle”.

After all the tests on Saturday, we spent time together and on Sunday I noticed she was feeling much better. On Tuesday, back at the clinic, the pediatrician examined Michelle and then sat down next to me and said, “I have the test results from Saturday and the spot is not there”. The two tests were done by two independent places and they both stood by their decisions. The Friday X-ray showed a spot, and somehow the Saturday test did not. “The girl that I examined on Friday is not the same girl I’m examining today.” On Friday, she was in a lot of pain and immobile, and by Tuesday she could move without pain. I looked at the doctor and said she got a miracle gift. He nodded his head yes.

Gratitude

I have to admit I was a bit skeptical, so I went and got a copy of the X-ray and held it up to the light. Yes, there was definitely a spot on her hip on the first X-ray. The pediatrician shared one more test result. They found a hairline fracture on her spine. But the good news is a hairline fracture is treatable, thanks to another pediatrician at the Gillette’s Children’s Specialty Healthcare

If you’ve ever been to a children’s hospital you know every child there has a serious illness. With gratitude, as a way to give back, I started Good Pillow Fight to help kids get well. We do this by creating and selling quality pillowcases with exclusive designs and donating 50% of our profits to children’s hospitals and helping kids get well. Our products are fresh, modern, unique, and inspiring. Good Pillow Fight pillowcases are eco-friendly, ethically sourced materials from trusted vendors, and meet the Oeko-Tex 100 requirements to be free of restricted chemicals. We also work hard to minimize fabric and ink waste. Do good, the rest will follow.

Written by: Onju Sturlaugson, Founder and Chief Good Officer of Good Pillow Fight