Sarah Nielsen appreciates a good night's sleep. But that's not why she had 1,632 new pillows stuffed into her father's garage last month.
The pillows were among 10,000 donated this spring through an unusual corporate giving project led by Coldwell Banker Burnet and its metro area offices. Staff and supporters collected new pillows for low-income families served by Bridging, a huge Twin Cities nonprofit offering household furnishings to those in need.
"It was crazy," laughed Nielsen. "We had bags and bags of pillows, cases and cases. My dad has a three-car garage, and when we brought the pillows down [from storage], they took up two full stalls."
The so-called Pillow Fight Challenge marked its fifth year in March, evolving from a let's-see-how-it goes idea that brought in 2,000 pillows its first year — to an annual employee competition that now has donated 28,000 head rests.
Bridging specifically asked Coldwell Banker Burnett, one of its longtime corporate sponsors, to be its pillow purveyor, said Diana Dalsin, Bridging's community relations manager. The nonprofit, which outfits entire apartments for about 4,000 families a year, found that Minnesotans were donating plenty of lamps, chairs, towels and other households. But fresh pillows were a missing link.
"It's the gift of a good night's sleep," said Dalsin. "Without that, how do you go to work, go to school?"
And it's a gift of dignity, Dalsin added, as the pillows are brand-new and not "a something's better than nothing."
But this gift is also bulky. Walk into Coldwell Burnett offices during the month of March, and you're likely to spot pillows stacked in lobbies, spare offices, conference rooms. It was a source of pride, and sometimes a bit of a headache.
