HISTORY
When Chapter President Helen Kramer, visiting her
daughter in Israel, saw soft, cuddly dolls being used in the hospital to great
effect to comfort and communicate with pediatric oncology patients, she decided
this would be a great project for her local chapter and brought one home.
The members enthusiastically started creating soft sculpture dolls wearing
Happy Hospital Coats that are sent to the Hadassah Hospitals in Israel. The
dolls are made of non-allergenic muslin with no features, just a generic
body that the children decorate at the hospital, making it their very own
to keep with them as they go from hospital room to treatment room to their own
homes.
The group of Haddassah volunteers (Laurette Abrams, Flora Kuritsky, Mary
Lou Criqui, Beatrice Rotzow, and Rose Greenberg) cut, sew, stuff, and pack up
the dolls in an assembly fashion. When a group of dolls are finished,
volunteers going to Israel are asked to take them along on the flight for
personal delivery. More than 300
dolls have already been delivered.
DOING GOOD IN THE WORLD
There is another helpful purpose to these
dolls. Children who are scared or have a language barrier can use the
dolls to communicate to the nurse or doctor by pointing and mimicking.
In 2010 Rose Greenberg, Tribute Chairman, created the ADOPT A DOLL
project. By donating $18 (symbol for LIFE) to Aviva Chapter of Hadassah
one can adopt a doll in honor of someone for any reason - in Honor, in Memory,
in Friendship, In Sympathy, Mazeltov, for any reason. The doll goes
directly to a child with the honoree's name inscribed, and the adoptee receives
an acknowledgement that a doll has been sent in honor of their loved one.
This Mitzvot benefits many people, not the least of which is the
construction of a new Hadassah Hospital in Jerusalem.
A COMMUNITY PROJECT
The Adopt A Doll project has now become a community
service project and has expanded their work to providing dolls to children
here in San Diego. The first two deliveries totaled 130 dolls to RADY
CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL. The staff was thrilled to receive them and
rushed a few immediately to their Emergency Room for
children who were sitting alone and scared. These children find the healing
dolls a great comfort at a crucial time.
The Aviva Hadassah Adopt A Doll Project has expanded production by
joining forces with Jewish Family Service at Temple Adat Shalom, forming the
Aviva Hadassah Stuffing Friendship Circle. The Circle has created a total
of 65 soft sculpture dolls to date. The group meets the third Tuesday of the
month at Adat Shalom Temple in Rancho Bernardo at 1PM. Other groups
that support the project are:
Pacific Regent, The Remington Club, and Seacrest Village.
