For some people, bringing a smile to one’s face is the most important thing they can do. Amy Jandrisevits from Wisconsin, a former social worker, is most definitely one of those people. A couple of years ago, the woman started a beautiful project aimed at children with disabilities. She’s also had a large interest for dolls ever since she was a child, and this passion project of hers combined her warm heart for these children as well as her own personal interests.

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Amy started “A Doll Like Me”, and wants to provide a personalized, lookalike stuffed toy for every child with a visual disability.

With a passion for dolls ever since she was little, Amy noticed that dolls were actually poorly presented in terms of diversity. She specifically focussed on people with disabilities, and more specifically children, since they’re the ones that feel a need to be represented. Dolls with visual disabilities or rare medical conditions, you simply can’t find those.

“It’s so difficult to tell a kid ‘you’re beautiful just the way you are, but you’re never going to see a doll that looks like you,” Amy said to Bored Panda.

Amy knew that the children with these disabilities wanted to feel included as well, but that simply wasn’t possible with the dolls they could find in stores and online.

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The woman worked in a pediatric oncology unit in the hospital for a number of years but always wanted to dedicate her time to a special, heartwarming mission.

Half a decade ago, she gave up her job to create the lookalike dolls for children on a full-time basis.

“Even when I was a social worker, I thought it was important to have dolls available to the kids because everyone should have something to hold. Everyone should have a doll that looks like them,” Amy posted on her personal Facebook page.

The woman definitely puts a ton of work and detail into the dolls, and it’s actually pretty amazing that she’s already hand-crafted hundreds of them. No detail is left untouched, up to the smallest birthmark or small size difference.

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While every single one of these dolls is personalized, they all also share the same common touch. All of the dolls rock the same smile!

It takes a lot of effort and hard work to create these stuffed lookalikes, but Amy doesn’t want to turn it into a profitable business.

The dolls usually cost around a hundred dollars, but Amy definitely knows that not all the caregivers or parents of children are able to afford one. No matter what, she’ll make sure that these children will get one of these dolls, even if she has to pay for shipping herself. Luckily, Amy can also count on numerous donations from Good Samaritans and has also set up a GoFundMe page to help with the costs. A great deal of the dolls is funded by generous donations.

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“Typically, parents or caregivers pay for the dolls – about $100 with shipping per doll. When they can’t afford it, I’ll find a way to cover it myself. Whatever it costs, whatever I have to do, I’m going to get a doll in the hands of these children. This isn’t just a business. It’s the right thing to do.”

Amy’s dolls are incredibly popular, and waiting lists of almost two years even aren’t that uncommon.

Her biggest dream is to turn her “A Doll Like Me” mission into an official non-profit so that no child or parent should have to worry about the costs.

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Amy also works closely with a local children’s hospital to find children whose spirits could be lifted by giving them one of these amazing dolls. The stuffed toys truly bring a smile to their faces and parents couldn’t be more thankful.

“A few weeks ago, we contacted A Doll Like me to create a Doll just like our son, who was born with a rare condition. Zachariah has known nothing but love and support and has never been made to feel he is different, however as he ages we noticed he has started to notice his physical differences. So when we found A Doll Like Me it was perfect! She created a doll fit purely for our Zachariah! Zachariah received the doll and was ecstatic! Once he opened it, it was like it was customized exactly for him, The doll had his favorite color clothes, a pajama set, glasses, blanket and hospital gown! The first words were look mom he has a hospital gown just like me! As a parent that sentence was one of the hardest you hear in your life when you strive to make your child as normal as possible!” the parents of Zachariah shared on Facebook.

In any case, this heartwarming mission isn’t stopping anytime soon and will hopefully make hundreds of more children feel more included and confident. Every single doll is made with love and it definitely shows!

Please SHARE this with your friends and family.

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Source: A Doll Like Me (Facebook), BoredPanda (2)