8-5-2013     12:25pm

It is officially that time again – Comfort Drive season. I’m excited. The Comfort Drive is a drive to collect needed comfort items for inpatients at Sharp Mesa Vista Hospital. Mesa Vista is a local psychiatric hospital I have spent much time at that has many times saved my life. Often patients end up there from an emergency room or unexpected route and are without the many comforts of home. Simple things like a hairbrush, outfit or art supplies can not only make someone’s day but change their outlook on the hospital stay and their life. After all, many of us are there because we want to die, have tried to kill ourselves, or have come close. 

I wasn’t sure what would come of the drive last year. I just put the flyer out and prayed. The support was amazing. I delivered 27 boxes and 6 bags of clothes, shoes, hygeine products, art supplies and random fun stuff. The stories that came back were striking. One in particular sticks with me. A teenaged boy came in with very big feet and shoes with holes in the bottom. His parents wouldn’t buy him new shoes and he couldn’t afford them. Staff said he had literally walked through his shoes. Someone found just his giant-sized shoes in the drive boxes. They said he cried when he got them. It takes a lot to make a teenaged boy cry. The stories kept coming in.

When I’m a patient I try to bring everything I’ll need and I usually end up giving to others who didn’t have the option to pack. Comfort is so overlooked. I can change a life with a chapstick or a shirt I no longer want. I can bring somebody hope.

I created this project last year and the response was overwhelming. I’m hoping this year it will be also. The drive runs through the end of August this year and the flyer, with a list of items to give, can be found here http://www.dbsasandiego.org/resources/Comfort-Drive-2013.pdf. Please give if you can or share the event with your friends (Facebook event https://www.facebook.com/events/295755200568357/) Put a flyer up at the office or church. Get together with friends and hit the dollar store. You could even make teams and see who can gather the most comfort. 

I am on the hunt for donations year-round so don’t worry if you can’t help out now. Keep me in mind and send things my way! Thank you SO much for your help. You can’t imagine what it means.

© Michelle Routhieaux 2013