Redwood Student Offers Holiday Presents To New Mothers

Holidays might mean just an extra day off from work or school for most of us, but for Redwood High School student Sophia Hooper they're a chance to make someone's hospital stay just a little extra special.

Hooper, who will be a junior at Redwood next semester, stitches holiday-themed baby buntings for newborns at Marin General Hospital. Nestled in an Easter egg or a pot of gold, babies are cradled in their mother's arms as they leave the hospital for home.

"It's something the parents don't really expect. It's a surprise for them," said Hooper, who joined the Labor of Love program at the hospital last year as a community service program for school.

"I (planned) originally to make them for breast cancer patients because my sewing teacher had breast cancer and she did that," Hooper said. "First time, it took me about 20 hours to do 10, but I've gotten faster since then."

Hooper says she can now finish 10 buntings in 10 hours. She generally buys the material at Jo-Ann Fabrics, where she picks out holiday-themed patterns and cloth. After that, it's a matter of cutting the fabric, arranging the design and stitching the pieces together.

"I find it's a different way to express myself. I'm really interested in design," said Hooper, who's following in her grandmother's footsteps.

Hooper, a singles tennis star with the Giants, hopes to follow her passion by playing tennis in college.