Some people see those in need, some people wish they could help, and some people act on that thought.
Bethel senior Cadence Treece and her mother, Richelle Treece, are in the last group.
Cadence has volunteered for the Community Breakfast at St. Benedict’s Catholic Church a couple of times, and she has seen the homeless population growing in Shawnee.
She said the breakfast, held on the fourth Saturday each month, hosts about 75-100 people who are in need. She usually arrives at 6 am to help set up, and it goes from 7-9:30 am.
So, when Richelle showed her online articles about people in other states using disposable surgical instrument wraps to make bed mats for the homeless, Cadence was all for it.
Richelle is a paramedic and surgical scrub technician in labor and delivery at SSM Health St. Anthony Hospital, in Shawnee, and she has seen the “opportunities for repurposing” those wraps, she said.
Since her daughter serves on several committees at school, Richelle also hoped to push Cadence “out of her comfort zone” to do something worthwhile outside of school.
Plus, a road trip drove the idea home.
“I’d been reading those articles, and then we did a road trip to California,” said Richelle. “And in California, the homeless population is staggering.”
“Then, starting to work for React (EMS), you know, I’m starting to see the homeless population that I didn’t really see before. You know, because when you work in the town, your eyes are opened a little bit more.”
In August, Richelle was beside her daughter as she presented her idea to the president of the hospital, the OB director, surgery director, senior surgical technician, and SSM Health Marketing and Communications Director Carla Tollett.
“We’ve never really thought about doing this before, and this was kind of brought to us, and it’s just a great way to take something that’s not really being used afterwards and actually (use) it for good,” said Tollett.
Since then, Cadence has picked up two to three large bags of blue wraps every week, plus several yellow neonatal surgical wraps.
Surgical Supply Technician Brice Koons said the wraps are made of cloth with a waterproof layer.
“All the instruments have to be sterilized, so we basically take all the instruments, wrap them in the blue wrap, and then put them through like a washing process,” said Koons. “And then afterwards, we pop them open in the room, and then we just throw them away normally.”
“So this is a way to kind of … get something else out of them.”
Koons said the wraps are removed from the operating room before a patient ever enters it.
From the hospital, the wraps have been filling Richelle’s living room where she sews them into adult mats, kids mats, pet mats, large tarps, adult bags, kids drawstring bags and even pillows.
On Sat., Oct. 22, Cadence arrived at the Community Breakfast early to make their first donation. They presented eight adult sleeping mats, six pet mats, three child mats, 29 bags, one pillow, and two tarps.
St. Benedict’s Administrative Assistant Kay Pruitt said, in the past, their youth group has crocheted mats from plastic bags, and there have been donations of coats, hats and Christmas gifts to give to the needy.
“I think it shows we care and are thinking of them,” said Pruitt. “They just need things.” “I’m impressed that someone so young would want to do something,” she said of Cadence.
In addition to working as a paramedic and surgical scrub tech, Richelle is also in the Army National Guard, serves as a Bethel volunteer firefighter, is working on her PhD, and photographs most of the Bethel High School ball games to post on her website, https:// www.181photographs. com/, for anyone to download for free.
So, she wasn’t able to sew as many items for the donation as she’d wished, and she is hoping an organization or individuals will take up the cause and help.
“Here are the numbers for how much I didn’t get to finish sewing for this first event: 23 tarps, 24 adult mats, four kid mats and 140 bags,” said Richelle. “Take away from that is, there is PLENTY if people want to help.”
Richelle said people could bring their sewing machines to her home once a month, or she can give them the materials to sew at home.
The need to hand this senior project off to others will be more urgent when Cadence graduates next May. She plans to attend OBU and major in Biology, then go into pre-med.
After staying at the hospital with her younger brother, Richard, as a child while her mother was working, the goal Cadence has had since she was 7 is to become a pediatrician and specialize in general medicine.
“I’ve always wanted to work with kids, though, and since I’ve always wanted to be in medicine, I thought pediatrician was the best option,” she said.
For those wishing to help sew or to take on the “Wrapped in Blue” project, email Richelle at wrappedinblue74801@ gmail.com.
