Employees collect clothing for needy children in Afghanistan

MESA, Ariz. (Feb.28, 2007 )-- Inspired by a photograph of an Afghanistan man holding a child in tattered clothing, Pat Dill, an RN for Banner Desert Medical Center for the past 17 years, decided to begin a clothing drive. 

Her granddaughter is an Army National Guard photographer serving in Afghanistan. She sent the photograph to Dill last June and told her of the extreme conditions there. Houses are cold and dry, there are holes in the wall that serve as windows, and the area is 85 percent illiterate, she says.  

Dill bought and collected enough winter clothing to fill seven large boxes. The cost of postage was more than $300. 

“I spent a great deal of time washing and sorting every piece of clothing that was given,” Dill says.

Donations were made by more than 150 employees and volunteers at Banner Desert. 

In addition to the massive clothing drive Dill coordinates, she has recruited co-workers and others to correspond with nearly 40 American servicemen and women in Afghanistan.

Most of the employees involved in the project work on 2B-C, 3B, and the NICU. They have been sending cards, letters and packages to the troops since last June, Dill says.

Dill has already collected two large boxes of summer clothing. The children most in need of clothing are ages 6 and under.