Several Lynbrook Elementary School students spent the first few weeks of May making “Hug Pillows” as part of a weekly after-school program run by members of St. Mark’s Lutheran Church in Springfield.

“Our program includes homework help, craft activities, musical instrument instruction, physical activities, supper and occasionally special guest musicians who perform for the children,” Mary Anderson of St. Mark’s said in an email. “One of the purposes of our program is to encourage the kids to be good citizens in the community and one way to do that is to help other people.”

At the last meeting of the year, students gave the pillows they created to visiting officers from the Fairfax County Police Franconia District station bicycle team. Officers can then carry the pillows in their police cruisers and offer them to children in traumatic situations like car accidents.

Each pillow contains a wooden heart and a tag that reads, “When you feel the heart inside this pillow, remember that you are cared for and loved.”