BARTLESVILLE, Okla. -- A group of women in Washington County started a ministry to make plush dolls to give to children during times of crisis.
For the past three years, about a dozen women have gathered each month at the First Presbyterian Church in Bartlesville, where they stuff and sew "Hugme dolls."
The dolls are made from colorful fabrics, ribbons and trims. Each one also has a smile stitched onto its face. The hope is that it will bring brightness and cheer during an otherwise difficult time in a child's life, said Hugme doll creator Pepper Hume.
"The whole point is for a child in crisis to have something soft and friendly and cheerful to hang onto," Hume said.
Hume said she got the idea to create the dolls after seeing images of distraught children following natural disasters, like hurricanes and tsunamis. When she moved to Bartlesville in 2013, she brought up the idea to a few other women at her church to gage their interest in the project, and she said it did not much convincing to get their help.
"They were like a bunch of ducks on a junebug," Hume said, describing the excitement the women felt about the idea.
She and several other women met in May 2013 and put together the first 16 Hugme dolls. They had no idea of knowing it then, but, a few days after their initial sewing party, deadly tornadoes hit the cities of Shawnee and Moore.
"Friday of that week, those 16 dolls went south with the fire department," Hume said. "It was a miracle, and it showed us that this was really something worth doing."
The women estimate that they have now given away more than 200 dolls to local organizations that regularly encounter children in stressful, sometimes scary, situations.
"It does my heart good to know that we're doing something for the children, the hurting children," said Marge Schonborg, whose responsibility it is to distribute the dolls throughout the community. "I'm going to keep doing this as long as I can, as long as the Lord will let me."
Schonborg said dolls have now gone to the Bartlesville Police Department, the Bartlesville Fire Department, the Washington County Sheriff's Office, the local Department of Human Services office as well as several other locations.
"We are definitely blessed when we're doing it," she said. "We're doing God's work."
The Dewey Police Department became the latest recipient of some dolls earlier this year. Sgt. Tim Stringer said he wished he would have had them sooner.
"Frequently with a small child, it's the first dealings they've ever had with a police officer," he said. "To have that officer give them something they can hold onto is very important."
Sgt. Stringer said his officers received more than a dozen dolls several months ago, and now they already need more.
"I've got just one of these dolls left," he said. "We go through them about as fast as we can get them."
The women often think about the kids who end up receiving one of their dolls, a feeling that Hume can only describe as "wonderful."
"There seems to be magic in it," she added.
The women are now hoping to teach other groups how to make the dolls so that they can then distribute them to places in their own communities.
If anyone is interested in getting involved with the project, follow this link to visit the Hugme Comfort Doll Ministry page on Facebook.
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