Over 1,000 pajamas collected by Windsor, Ont. children for kids in hospital on Christmas Eve

Two local girls collected more than 1,000 pairs of new pajamas for kids in hospital.

Two Windsor, Ont. based children collected over 1,000 pairs of pajamas for kids at the hospital on Christmas Eve.

Nine-year-old Megan Patrick and 11-year-old Lauren Meadows joined forces for the fourth annual Megan and Lauren’s Pajama Extravaganza.

A total of 1,025 pairs were donated by the community, students at Centennial Central Public School, and local groups. That is almost twice as many collected last year.

The pajamas were donated to the Pediatric Floor and NICU at Windsor Regional Hospital, the Labour and Delivery Department at Erie Shores HealthCare, the Children’s Hospital at London Health Sciences Centre, and the Ronald McDonald Houses in Windsor, London, Hamilton, and Toronto at Sick Kids Hospital.

“We appreciate that so many people stepped up to help this event be a success again this year,” said Mellissa Patrick, Megan’s mother.

“Collecting the pajamas is a big job, but so many people have opened up their hearts to support our mission to make sure that every child in the hospital in our region has a set of Christmas pajamas to wear on Christmas Eve. This year, we were able to ensure that the Ronald McDonald House in Windsor and Hamilton received pajamas and both locations were so excited to receive the donations from the girls.”

Megan was diagnosed with Leukemia on Christmas Eve 2018 and spent the night in the hospital with no special Christmas pajamas. After she was healthy, her family started the initiative.

In 2022, the program took a break as Megan was diagnosed with Leukemia again. Lauren stepped up to help with the campaign in 2023.