Threads of Love

A unique ministry is bringing love and comfort to families in the NICU.

Shirley Casey (left) and Melissa Everett sew Easter-themed day gowns.

Joyce Fulgham (left), Beverly Hillyard (second from right), and Carol McKissick (right) prepare completed day gowns to be packaged.

Becky Wilks holds a crocheted hat designed for our tiniest premature infants.

For more than twenty years, a special group of ladies called Central Texas Threads of Love has created thousands of handmade outfits, blankets, hats, and other items for babies in the McLane Children’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU).

“Around 2001, a member of our church had a daughter who spent a while in the NICU,” says Carol McKissick, a long-time member of the group. “She said that her baby was naked all the time because of her breathing tube, heart monitor, and other cords. One day she walked in and saw her daughter in clothes someone had donated, and that was the first time she really felt like her baby was a real person.”

As a chapter of the national Threads of Love Foundation, the group meets weekly to cut, sew, iron, and package these adorable creations. “It’s the highlight of my week,” says Pat Pilkington, who has dedicated her Tuesday mornings to the ministry for almost two decades. “It’s a joy to be able to do this for these families.”

The group enjoys making outfits centered around holiday themes, such as Easter, or Halloween. Each miniature day gown is designed to accommodate medical lines and monitors, and is easily removable to allow hospital staff easy access to the newborn—accompanied by a matching hat and prayer for healing.

In 2021, Central Texas Threads of Love donated more than 4,500 items to the NICUs at our Temple and Waco campuses. 

“Having a sick baby in the NICU is a stressful time for parents,” says Melissa Everett. “This is something we can do to show these families that we care about what they’re going through.”

Thank you to Threads of Love for your support and compassion for our tiniest patients and their families!

Learn more about how you can support babies in the NICU