Every Wednesday, the craft group at Briarwood Commons gets together to work on various cards, quilts and other pieces, whether it be for personal use or as a group project.

A recent collective project for the members of the group - the Busy Bs - has a heartfelt purpose for the women, who meet at the development’s clubhouse off MacArthur Road in Whitehall.

Members shopped, measured, sewed, ironed, washed and packaged 68 pillowcases for Lehigh Valley Hospital’s pediatric patients. A couple of the group members delivered them Aug. 13. Pictures on the pillowcases, which were worked on for at least five meetings, ranged from turtles, musical instruments, cats and dogs, unicorns, doctors and nurses, baseball equipment and more.

Members received money, a couple hundred dollars, from fellow residents in the community to help supply the materials.

The craft group started around seven years ago and has been meeting for five years under the official name. With between 12 and 15 members, the group gets a lot done for themselves, family and friends.

The group has also done other group projects in the past. Approximately a year and a half ago, members made blankets for various nursing homes.

“We brought 150 blankets - knitted and crocheted,” said Pat Mathieu, a craft group member. “That was a big project for us.”

All the blankets for the individuals in nursing homes were wrapped as Christmas gifts, so it was extra special, Mathieu noted.

Last year, the women made blankets for babies who died in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit or who were stillborn.

“I wanted to do something, and I wanted another project,” Mathieu said of the pillowcase project. “It makes us get together, and we have fun doing it.”

After the group members talked about what they could do, someone suggested making pillowcases for children in hospitals. Members agreed on donating the pillowcases to Ryan’s Case for Smiles.

“Lehigh Valley Hospital happens to be one of the stations where you can make the pillowcase (drop-off),” said Lisa Rusnock, another Busy Bs member.

According to the organization’s website, “Ryan’s Case for Smiles is one the few volunteer organizations solely dedicated to helping kids feel better to heal better. While other great organizations focus on research and finding a cure, we work to improve the quality of life of children and their families as they undergo treatment.”

Given that many of the members in the group are not sewers, Rusnock said one of the women taught a basic lesson on what needed to be done to make the pillowcases.

Rusnock mentioned one of the most fun things during the project was going to local craft stores and picking out the material.

“Keeping in mind they are children, there are boys and girls, and [the fabric is] so colorful,” she said.

Mathieu said it was one of the trickiest parts, too, as she is not a sewer.

“I walk in the store, and it’s like, ‘What do I do?’” Mathieu said with a laugh. “The sales lady looks at me and says, ‘Are you having problems?’”

But Mathieu walked out with a handful of beautiful fabric and felt excited about making the pillowcases for the children.

When asked why it’s important for the members of the group to do this community project, Mathieu said with emotion, “Just seeing that card” - pointing to the photo of a child in a hospital bed with no hair on the Ryan’s Case for Smiles pamphlet. “I’m just so happy we were able to do this for the children. That’s really our goal, and we’ve accomplished it.”

“Every now and then, [Mathieu] reminds us we’re very fortunate here [and asks us] what can we do in the next couple weeks for somebody else,” Rusnock said. “It’s a really good community-building activity.

“It’s important to be a part of your community and to give back,” Rusnock added. “It’s too easy to be complacent when you’re old. When there is an opportunity to help a child or an older person, you should take it up and do it.

“The end result is really going to make somebody happy,” Rusnock said.