FREEHOLD, N.J. — Fighting brain cancer, little Giada Demma was lying in her pediatric hospital bed, her tiny body virtually swimming in a drab green hospital gown.
Her cousin Giuliana Demma remembers looking at the 1-year-old and thinking how sad the scene was: a small child awash in an ugly gown several sizes too big for her. “I thought to myself, ‘Why does she have to wear this? Why can’t she wear something nicer?’” Giuliana said. Inspired by that moment, Giuliana Demma, 13, and her 11-year-old sister Audrina have sewn and donated more than 1,800 brightly colored, playfully patterned gowns to hospitalized children in 36 states.
They've even sent them to Uganda, with three other African nations set to get them in the fall. Audrina Demma, left, and her sister Giuliana hug June 19 in the basement at the sewing station of their Freehold, N.J.
, home. The sisters have sewn and donated 1,800 hospital gowns to sick children in 36 states plus Africa. Giuliana was inspired by seeing her baby cousin wearing an ugly, ill-fitting gown while hospitalized with brain cancer in 2017.
“I wanted to do something to help kids like (Giada) and give them hospital gowns that have nice patterns, that are colorful, that they can feel comfortable in while they’re going through a rough time,” Giuliana said. Their family hired a seamstress to make a custom Disney princess gown for little Giada, who was hospitalized in 2017 and is doing well now. But as Giuliana grew over the next four.