Our third annual Dollies Making A Difference Holiday Party was a huge success! An abundance of thanks go to hostess extraordinaire Colleen Morrissey whose warm hospitality and beautifully decorated home set the stage for a festive event. Outdoor lights and red-bowed wreaths everywhere greeted us, along with a life-size Santa on his sleigh and a huge Nutcracker at the front door. Â Â 
As is tradition, the Trepp boys attended the festivities, and this time Father Peter came along to blend Suzanne’s famous margaritas. 
The delicious dinner was catered by Palisades restaurant Kay & Dave’s…enchiladas and all the trimmings!
Following dinner, the ladies were ushered into the living room while the  judges –  John Morrissey, Bill Simon, and Peter Trepp – viewed the array of cookies and struggled to come to a decision on which should receive awards.  Many cookies had to be personally sampled – often more than once – until a consensus was finally reached. Duly noted, more than one dollie lady had to be reminded to stay inside the living room whilst the judging took place.
The BELL was rung and the program began. Â First, a big THANK YOU went out to Colleen and John for hosting the Holiday party.
Then the announcement of the 2013Â Cookie Exchange Contest Winners:
Chris Geller for “Most Original” – her cookies were dark chocolate lollipops
Carrie Scott for “Best Chocolate Cookie Ever” – this award Bill Simon insisted on…he found himself having to taste more than 2,3,4 of Carrie’s cookies “just to be sure”.
Nita Harper’s Snowmen for “Most Holiday Festive” …for obvious reasons!
Teresa Akerblom for “Most homemade… but then again maybe not 100% homemade…” for her entry of white chocolate dipped Oreo cookies – John Morrissey never stopping raving about them the remainder of the evening.
Rhonda Green for “The cookies the judges hope no one takes home so they can have them all to themselves” for her tin of Reeses’s Peanut Butter Cups.
And the Grand Prize Winner – for the 2nd year in a row!!! – Suzanne Trepp and spectacular sister Cathy’s red and white sugar cookies, enhanced by their beautiful display in a tall crystal container.
Next on the schedule was the announcement of the highly anticipated 2013 Dollie Do-Gooder Awards.  Each year the over 40 active dollie members carefully review the long list of recipient organizations who either welcome or carry our dollies and teddy bears near and far.  Then  we vote on (3) to award and make a financial donation to.
#1  Of  12 eligible non-profits who serve children within the USA, we awarded the “Dollie Do-Gooder in the USA Award” to Casa Teresa, a 35-year-old residential facility in Orange County, California where a myriad of support and educational programs are offered to pregnant women, young mothers, and their babies. This award included a donation of $1000.
#2  Of over 20 eligible non-profits who serve children outside the USA, we awarded the “Dollie Do-Gooder Far Far Away Award” to International Medical Corps, a first response disaster relief organization. This award included a donation of $1000.
#3 Out of the over 32 non-profit organizations who serve children near and far, we awarded the “Dollie Do-Gooder We Care Award” to Violence Intervention Program (VIP), a forensic urgent care treatment facility located within LAC-USC Medical Center in East Los Angeles where persons suspected of suffering abuse are brought to be evaluated and cared for. Â This award included a donation of $500. Note: it is the third time Dollies Making A Difference has awarded VIP a Dollie Do-Gooder Award!
Next was the eagerly awaited 2013 Dollie Volunteer of the Year award, which was awarded to Rhonda Green. Cindy made the following comments, “One morning years ago, a lovely lady showed up on my doorstep after reading an article about Dollies Making A Difference in our local newspaper, The Palisadian Post.  She asked, “How can I help?”  She said she knew how to sew, and by the way she also had a Die Cut Machine.  I had no idea what that was, but suffice it to say this machine has changed the trajectory of our production! She ordered die cuts of our teddy bear and dollie patterns, and all the clothes.  What used to take hours and hours of labor now takes just minutes in turning out patterns which are exact and perfectly cut.  She has a full time job but makes many stops before and after hours picking up and dropping off not only our dollie and teddy bear cut-outs, but beautiful doll quilts, knitted blankets, and an assortment of other handmade items which we can include with our orders.  She is a busy lady, yet she always…always…always comes in with a smile.  We are blessed to call our friend Rhonda Green a  Dollie Lady.”
As if this evening didn’t have enough exciting news to report, an announcement was made that Dollie member Alisa was “expecting”! Cheers and congratulations all around! Â Needless to say, Alisa will be receiving a whole lotta baby advice from this point on!
A wonderful evening start to finish, and everyone went home with feelings of good cheer…and a big plate full of cookies!
