Salinas Valley Health Appreciates Buena Vista 4-H Club Heartfelt Donation

Media Contact: Karina Rusk
831-759-1843

Members of the Buena Vista 4-H Club dropped off 150 port pillows Friday afternoon to the Cancer Resource Center at Salinas Valley Health. Buena Vista 4-H members from Monterey and Santa Cruz Counties donated their time and talents to sew and package colorful port pillows for people battling cancer.

“Salinas Valley Health is grateful to the 4H members who are supporting our cancer care team and patients with this thoughtful gift,” says Flora Cavalli, Certified Cancer Registrar Oncology Department. “These port pillows will brighten the day of patients undergoing chemotherapy. Not only will they be a medical comfort to them, our patients will know they were made by caring young people in our community.”

People getting chemotherapy often get a port cath to help facilitate receiving the medication instead of getting an IV line inserted every appointment. The small port placed in the skin can be uncomfortable when a seatbelt rubs against it. The handmade port pillows attach to a car seatbelt to protect the port from being irritated. The instructions for the pillows come in English and Spanish.

“We enjoy sewing and donating these port pillows,”says Abby Hattrup a Buena Vista 4-H Club member. “We know people battling cancer are going through a tough time and our goal is to make them a little bit more comfortable in the car and to hopefully make them smile.”

4-H stands for Head, Hands, Heart, Health. The Buena Vista 4-H Club members lived out all of those key values with this important statewide project.