Dollies travel to UCLA Mattel Children’s Hospital

Dollies Making A Difference has long maintained a close partnership with UCLA Mattel Children’s Hospital, in Los Angeles California,  where we have donated dollies and colorful teddy bears to young patients in need of something special to brighten their day.

Recently we were contacted by nurse Kellye Carroll, the manager of Chase Child Life Program, with a special request.  She wondered if we could donate our beautiful dollies with hair, dress, but NO FACES!  We wondered what this was all about, and Kellye explained:  “We use dolls for expressive art and medical play therapy.  Having a doll with no face allows a child the freedom to put a sad/angry/frustrated/confused face on their doll, expressing an emotion they may not have the words to express verbally.  Children can also put their own happy face on their doll.  Some like to make the doll look like them…others want it to look completely different.  The bottom line is as Child Life Specialists, we try to provide children with the opportunity to make their own choices, as so much of their hospitalization is without choice.  This is one tiny thing, but for some children the doll gives them a voice.  It is very powerful.”

We got to work right away.  Sofia and Dorothy designed a special hospital gown with two ties in the back.  We added shorts underneath, and then worked on the hair.  We sewed all different kinds of hairstyles on the girls, while the boys were given short tufts of hair topped off with a crocheted cap.

Dorothy and Denise delivered our first “batch” of dollies to Kellye Carroll in early March, and received a tour of the Chase Child Life Program.  The UCLA Mattel Children’s Hospital continues to amaze us with the excellent programs and top notch medical services they provide to children in need.

Here is a young girl who wanted 2 dollies, one for when she was happy and one for when she felt sad.

Here is Kellye, Denise, and Dorothy with some of our special FACE-LESS dollies.