Katelynn Devinney, a 37-year-old mother of four from Philadelphia, USA, has transformed her mother Trish's breast cancer diagnosis into a global sewing initiative called Pockets of Hope. What began as a simple act of sewing pockets into a sweatshirt for her mum after a mastectomy in 2022 has grown into a project that now distributes approximately 400 sweatshirts per month to breast cancer patients worldwide.
From a Single Sweatshirt to a Global Movement
Before Trish underwent a mastectomy in 2022, a family friend gifted her a zip-up sweatshirt with pockets sewn on the inside. These pockets were designed to hold drainage tubes, which are placed after surgery to remove one or both breasts as part of breast cancer treatment. Wearing the sweatshirt allowed Trish to remain comfortable and avoid the pain of tubing digging into her skin. Inspired by this kindness, Devinney decided to create similar sweatshirts for other patients.
Devinney enlisted her two best friends, Lori and Kiersten, and dusted off her sewing machine. “My mum asked if I could get her another one, because when she washes it, that she could have another one,” Devinney said. “So I just said I have a sewing machine I haven't used in 20 years so why don't I just make one for you?”
Social Media Sparks Explosive Growth
Devinney posted on social media, offering to make sweatshirts for anyone undergoing a mastectomy. “I put it out there on my social media and said ‘Hey, I made one of these for my mom. If anybody knows anybody that is having a mastectomy, I'd love to keep making these for people who might need one,” she recalled. “I think I put it in a Facebook group too, and people just started reaching out and it was like, word of mouth, people talking about it.”
Requests flooded in, and donations began to support the effort. “My goal at the time was five a month. And we're at four, we average 400 a month now,” Devinney said. The project has expanded far beyond the original trio, with volunteers worldwide stitching pockets and mailing them to Devinney's team, who then sew them into sweatshirts.
Pockets of Hope: A Global Reach
Through the Pockets of Hope website, patients from around the world can request a sweatshirt, and donors can contribute funds or volunteer to sew pockets. Devinney's mission remains focused on helping as many women as possible. “My mission has always been to help as many women as I can, and it's always going to be that,” she stated. “I'm going to try as hard as I can to be able to. My goal is to have the ability at any point to have the sweatshirt shipped out the same day as we get the request.”
Devinney, who works in nuclear power insurance, says her mother is astonished by the project's impact. “My mum is doing really well. She's my biggest cheerleader,” Devinney said. “She can't believe what this is and what came of her diagnosis. I think she's just blown away. She cries every time we talk about it, you know, tears of joy. I think she's just, just so proud of me. She's always telling me how proud she is. And I always tell her, this is all your fault.”
