Pillows for Kids Foundation continues supporting local youth

WASILLA — The Pillows for Kids Foundation continues to work throughout the year to provide scholarships to local children in need to help them participate in various activities that aid their overall growth as individuals.

“We know that there’s a need out there,” Pillows for Kids Foundation co-founder Valerie Koivunen said.

Pillow for Kids is a nonprofit organization that sells handmade pillows to provide scholarships to local youth and connect them with mentors from across the community to guide them through a wide range of brain training activities based on their individual needs and interests such as gymnastics, swimming, skiing, snowboarding, skating, horsemanship, leadership, art, music, dance, martial arts, and chess. They rely on professionals in the community to contact them about the child’s identifiable needs.

Koivunen attends various markets, school functions, and events across the community to raise money and overall awareness for their cause. She said they always offer a variety of pillow styles and themes to choose from.

“We have motifs for all ages, from two to 100,” Koivunen said.

Currently, Koivunen can be found at the Pillows for Kids Foundation booth The Warehouse, a new indoor vendor market in downtown Wasilla. She said the market is picking up momentum and everyone she meets is friendly and supportive.

“This is just a pleasant place to be,” Koivunen said.

Koivunen said the inspiration for the Pillows for Kids Foundation started when her grandson wrote a short song that went, “little pillow, little pillow with blue flowers, I lay on you to rest my head, to fall to sleep.”

Koivunen collaborated with Marilyn Parker to establish an organization that offered little pillows of hope and scholarships to children across the Valley. The two eventually wrote a book called “Evan’s Little Pillow,” a children’s story that features Evan’s song and the origin of their organization.

Koivunen and Paker are both retired teachers. Parker said they saw a need to cushion as many corners of the community to provide as many opportunities as they can to local children in need.

“We wanted to catch kids before they fell through the cracks,” Parker said.

According to Koivunen, the Pillows for Kids Foundation has provided over 460 total scholarships to local children since they started up in 2009.

The Pillows for Kids Foundation also donates pillows to other nonprofit organizations across the Valley, including The Children’s Place, and CCS Early Learning.

“I just like to do it. We do make a difference,” Koivunen said.

For more information about the Pillows for Kids Foundation, email pillowsforkids@gmail.com or visit pillowsforkidsfoundation.org.

Contact Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman reporter Jacob Mann at jacob.mann@frontiersman.com