About a year ago, I decided that I wanted to donate dolls and bears to abused children. It was difficult to choose a recipient for the donations. Sadly, there is no shortage of abused children, so there were many choices. After careful consideration, I selected Childhelp. If you are interested in learning more about this organization, please visit their website at:

Childhelp has numerous and varied facilities around the country. I chose the residential treatment facility in Beaumont, California. They house 80 severely abused children ranging in age from 6 to 14. A friend and I visited this facility in June. We met Lynn Elder, the person in charge of donations and public relations. She took us on a tour of the facility.

On June 19th, I helped Susanna Lewis teach a class in Sasha doll repair, in Phoenix, AZ.; this was the first fund raiser for this project!

I am very pleased to announce that 32 little girls at Childhelp now have American Girl dolls! They received them on October 5th.

Lynn Elder, the lady in charge of donations, sent me the following e-mail:

As you can see, Lynn mentions a new girl. I told Lynn that as long as I have the funds, I will continue to send dolls as new girls arrive. So I am still accepting donations, as long as you want to send them! Every donation, large or small, is extremely helpful and tremendously appreciated! Please mail cash donations (checks or money orders) to:

You may call me at: (209) 529-5154 or e-mail me at: nancy@letsplaydolls.com if you have any questions.

Many of you suggested different kinds of dolls for the girls. You had wonderful ideas and as many of you pointed out, every child likes different things. Lynn had requested that I make all the donations the same as they were to be distributed at the same time. She didn't want any child to feel jealous or perceive that another child got something "better". However, the children are often taken aside and given individual gifts when the other children are not around. So if you'd like to send a doll, bear or other toy to Childhelp, these gifts would be welcome and appreciated! These may be mailed directly to the facility at this address:

So far, I have not had the time or the funds to arrange gifts for the boys. The last I heard there were about 60 boys at the facility, so boy's things are needed. Again, the children range in age from 6-14. If you want to send a toy for either a boy or girl, please follow these guidelines, set by Childhelp:

1. Items must be brand new and in the original packaging.

2. Nothing breakable.

3. No weapons or anything of a violent nature (action heroes are ok).

4. Hand made doll clothes and accessories are welcome!

I can't thank you enough for your generous help and support with this project! I could not have done this without you! THANK YOU a million times!!!!

The day before Thanksgiving, I received a most wonderful gift-an envelope full of hand written thank you notes from the girls, for their American Girl dolls. I sat and cried bittersweet tears as I read each one of them. One little girl wrote that she holds her doll every night while she cries. This totally broke my heart! But knowing that the dolls are providing comfort makes it all worthwhile. So please know that your donations are truly making a difference!

In November, several people donated dolls and related items to be sold on eBay. In compliance with eBay's charity listing policy, I acquired official authorization from Childhelp to run the auctions on their behalf. During the week of November 20th, I ran five auctions and raised a total of $584.77! 100% went to the children. Some of the money bought American Girl dolls for new girls who had arrived. I also sent beads and elastic so all the girls could make bracelets for their dolls. I made a sample bracelet with the name, "Dolly Girl" on it and sent that too, along with instructions.

At about the same time, I made arrangements with Gund to buy beautiful stuffed animals wholesale! With $564.95 of your donations, I purchased approximately $1,100.00 (in retail value) worth of bears, cats, dogs, etc! My husband and I packed them all into our van and on December 10th, drove the 400 and something miles to Beaumont, to deliver the cuddly critters in person. But we had another, very special reason for going-the children were putting on a Christmas program! The program was wonderful! I enjoyed seeing the children's faces for the first time. The stuffed animals were given to the children on Christmas morning. Lynn Elder reported that they loved them! If you would like to purchase a Gund animal for a girl or boy at Childhelp, please visit my Gund page. Select the gift of your choice and receive 40% off. You will be charged only $1 for shipping, per gift ($5 maximum shipping charge). I will pay the rest! Here is a link to my Gund page:

Since my first batch of charity auctions, I have received 12 more donated items! Six of the auctions are scheduled to start tonight, February 25, 2007, between 7:00 pm and 7:45 pm (Pacific Standard Time). The other items will be listed as I get them ready, hopefully over the next week or two. There are some beautiful things being offered; please take a look! You may access my auctions by searching eBay seller ID nancyatletsplaydolls, or click on this link: eBay seller ID nancyatletsplaydolls Remember, the charity auctions won't start to appear until 7:00 pm tonight! Thank you for looking!

I have exciting news! Heidi Plusczok, one of today's top doll artists, has donated one of her dolls for a very special traveling doll project, to benefit the children! I will let you know when she will be sold, so you can bid on her!

More exciting news! I wrote an article about my Abused Kids' Project for Doll Castle News. It is published in the May, 2007 issue!

THANK YOU for your ongoing support!

Last April, Heidi Plusczok, one of today's top doll artists, donated one of her dolls for a very special fund raising project! Barlee Rumburg, moderator of the Heidi Plusczok Yahoo group is coordinating the project. The doll is "Patsi in Florida", but she has been re-named, "Molly". Molly is a sweet 8 ½" all vinyl doll, complete with wardrobe and trunk. Since May 2007, Molly has been traveling all over the world to the homes of Plusczok group members. Each host has taken Molly to visit the sites in their city. They have photographed her and provided journal entries of her adventures. These wonderful ladies and gentlemen have generously donated many souvenirs to Molly's trunk! Some have made darling clothes and other wonderful gifts. Many other special people along the way have also added gifts. Helen Kish donated a very special artist's easel, just Molly's size! Molly was scheduled to be sold on eBay in January, but a surprise host offered to take Molly for one more adventure-it was Robert Tonner! He is making a special gift for Molly. We don't know what it is yet! When Molly returns, she will be sold, along with all the wonderful treasures she has collected! She will be auctioned off, either on eBay or at the UFDC doll convention in July. We are still working out the details. Here is the best part-all the money will go to the children!

MORE NEWS! The charity auctions I ran on eBay last March raised $1,415.00 for the kids! Please let me know if you'd like to donate dolls or related items for this year's auctions! I am tentatively planning them for April.

THANK YOU for your ongoing generosity and support! I could not do this alone!

2625-F Coffee Rd. #183
Modesto, CA 95355-2050
Phone: (209) 529-5154
FAX: (209) 544-0676
E-Mail: nancy@letsplaydolls.com

Designed by Resolute