FREEHOLD, New Jersey — As little Giada Dema lay in a children’s hospital bed battling brain cancer, her tiny body practically swimming in her drab green hospital gown.
Her cousin, Juliana Dema, remembers looking at her 1-year-old daughter and thinking what a sad sight it was: a tiny child in an ugly gown several sizes too big.
“I thought to myself, ‘Why does she have to wear this? Why can’t she wear something nicer?'” Juliana said.
Inspired by that moment, 13-year-old Juliana Dema and her sister Audrina, 11, sewed and donated more than 1,800 brightly colored, playfully patterned gowns to hospitalized children in 36 states, including one in Uganda, with plans to distribute to three other African countries in the fall.
“I wanted to help kids like (Jada) by giving them hospital gowns that are comfortable and have beautiful patterns and colors to wear while they are going through this difficult time,” Juliana said.
The family hired a seamstress to custom make a Disney princess dress for little Giada when she was hospitalized in 2017. Giada is fine now, but as Juliana grew older over the next four or five years, she became interested in sewing and remembered how embarrassed her little cousin had been all those years ago in a drab, ill-fitting dress.
Once Juliana learned to sew, her cousin was no longer in the hospital, but she began making bright gowns for other sick children. Her first creation was a flamingo- and Paris-themed gown for a child with cancer who was an acquaintance of her aunt’s.
Her gowns are made with donated funds and materials, and the children are not charged anything; the Starbucks Foundation gave the project a $3,000 grant this year. ImageFirst, a hospital linen company in Clifton, New Jersey, cleans all the clothes for free before they are sent to the hospital, and a women’s group from a nearby housing development and a church youth group have provided about 40 volunteers to help the girls cut the fabric.
Juliana gets help from her sister, who also loves to sew. When Juliana has to do her homework, she goes to the basement of their home, not far from New Jersey’s Jersey Shore in Freehold, New Jersey, to help her sew. The basement is used for sewing.
Audrina’s specialty is sewing tiny pillows for young patients, which are sent with a box of markers so the recipient can color them however they like while in hospital.
Audrina made 100 pillows, packaged them and sent them to hospitals as part of her effort to earn her Bronze Girl Scout Award. She makes seasonally themed pillows for St. Patrick’s Day, Valentine’s Day and other special occasions. Last winter she made 100 snowman pillows.
These include rubber ducks and other toys the girls have made, as well as a local childhood cancer charity, LIV Like a unicornThe Minnesota charity puts them in boxes it sends to kids battling cancer. International Pediatric Surgery In February, 60 gowns were delivered to a hospital in Uganda, with more being sent to Gambia, Liberia and Ethiopia in the fall.
Some recipients have written to thank the girls for the gowns and pillows they received.
“I love seeing the smiles on the kids’ faces, even though they’re going through such difficult times,” said Audrina, who wants to become a veterinarian.
The girls recently began sewing zippers into light-colored T-shirts that can accommodate injection ports for chemotherapy and other medications, which might allow young patients to avoid wearing gowns at all during their hospital stays.
When Samantha DiSimone’s 9-month-old son, Vito, was hospitalized in New York in January for a heart-valve problem, hospital staff arrived with a sealed package containing a gown for Juliana made from fabric featuring the movie “Cars.”
When they unpacked the garment he had a huge smile on his face.
“It was so emotional,” Samantha DiSimone said. “You’re in the hospital praying that your son will make it through surgery, and then to see him in his gown and with such a big smile on his face is just amazing.”
Juliana is soft-spoken and calm about her endeavors, exuding a calmness and maturity beyond her years despite only having just graduated from middle school. She said she wants to be a cancer surgeon and loves hearing the stories from those who receive her gown.
“I’m so happy to be able to help these girls during this tough time,” she said. “I want them to feel confident and know that they are an inspiration and that they are loved and strong and brave. They can wear this gown and have something to lift their spirits.”
Giada’s mother, Melissa Dema, said she is “touched and amazed every day” by her daughter’s cousins’ efforts to make and donate the dresses.
“These are young girls who are choosing to give their time to help others,” she said. “If we could all do this, the world would be a better place. We would feel better about the future and what the world could be.”
