Kelsy Ruano is a girl scout, AP student, and creator of handmade pillows for breast cancer survivors. Ruano, a senior at Barbara Goleman Senior High School, personally knows two breast cancer survivors – a family friend and her grandmother. Moved to action after witnessing the discomfort and pain they suffered after undergoing mastectomies, Ruano searched for special-made pillows to be used under the arm to keep the elbow from hitting the surgery site.
Though she found heart-shaped pillows online, they were expensive, and she thought she could sew something similar, using skills acquired as a girl scout. The project took hold, and soon she found herself planning and making enough pillows to donate to the Sylvester Cancer Center at the University of Miami.
Supported by her family, Ruano got to work. She chose assorted fabrics, purchased materials, and began sewing by hand until recently when she got a sewing machine. The first batch of 25 she created were donated, and the second batch of 37 were handed out at an event at the cancer center specifically for cancer survivors.
“I had two people I wanted to help so I tried to do that by making these pillows to make their life a little easier. I really want to thank my mom because she’s the whole reason I’ve been able to do this. She has helped me with buying supplies and donating the pillows,” said Ruano.
Finding use even for the leftover fabric from the pillows, the talented high schooler created seatbelt cushions for cancer patients with ports on their chest where catheters enter for chemotherapy who note the irritation when the seatbelt rubs against the port.
“I’ve been a girl scout since the second grade, I’m an eagle scout now, and in high school I’ve joined Key Club, National Beta Club, and National Honor Society so my entire life has been about community service,” said Ruano. “The only difference for me is that I’m devoting a lot more hours to one specific project. I have really enjoyed doing this and it’s given me the opportunity to talk to a lot of staff members at the school who have loved ones that have fought cancer.”
This is the second cancer-related community service project Ruano takes on, the first was the delivery of gift bags to the Sylvester Cancer Center that contained socks, hand sanitizers, notepads, pens and sour candy to alleviate the sour taste in the mouth after chemotherapy.
With a full schedule of advanced placement courses, dual enrollment in university classes, and participation in multiple service clubs Ruano has a full plate but she makes time for the projects that matter to her.
“School has really prepared me with learning time management,” she said. “I get better and better at managing my time and I treat making the pillows as another club that I need to schedule into my day.”
As for including others in her project, Ruano is already thinking of the future.
“I definitely have plans to continue the project and I would like to hold a workshop to teach others how to make the pillows so we can continue making them and donating them to those who need them,” she said.