Many young girls in Appalachia had to deal with the anguish and sadness of having their world—and childhood—upended amid the devastation, healing, and loss left by Helene.
Angela Tilsher, a mother of three kids who witnessed the historic destruction of Helene from hundreds of miles away in Florida, found resonance in their experience.
“My heart broke. It broke for all the families,” Tilsher stated.
She mentioned that she was inspired by her own daughters and felt driven to act.
The big goal of a tiny doll
It was evident to Tilsher that her girls enjoyed playing with dolls. Months before Christmas, she and her daughters launched an endeavor to refurbish lightly used American Girl dolls and give them to the girls who had lost so much since she knew how much they had lost.
For every free doll, there was a puppy to accompany her, a little Bible to serve as a source of encouragement, a hairbrush designed especially for American Girl dolls, an additional wardrobe, and a pair of bedding.
The dolls also included a booklet that Tilsher made to reflect the story of the girls who received them, a tale of survival and bravery.
Since the girls lived in the mountains of Virginia, East Tennessee, and western North Carolina, the dolls they received were called “Anna the Appalachian Doll.”
The consideration that went into making “Anna” goes much beyond just her name.
Firstly, since many of the girls who receive a “Anna” were displaced by Helene and might be relocating from shelter to shelter, each one comes with a backpack case that would make it easy to move her.
Additionally, every doll is picked especially for the girl who requests it. She attempts to match American Girl dolls with the girls who want them because they come in a range of hair colors and styles and can cost over $100 brand new.
“I wanted the child to get something that was like, ‘Whoa, this is just for me,’” Tilsher stated. “Not only is it just any doll, but it’s an American Girl doll. And not only is it an American Girl doll, she looks like me. She went through what I went through.”
According to Tilsher, the doll’s resemblance to the little girl who would be caring for her is an additional way to convey that she has been noticed and that someone is concerned about her.
How does “Anna” alleviate Helene’s trauma?
With the “Anna the Appalachian Doll,” Tilsher seeks to console girls while they heal from Helene.
“The fastest way, I think, for children to heal is through play, having something to cuddle, having something to take care of, having something to carry around with you,” she stated.
200 dolls have been distributed so far by Tilsher’s tiny but powerful team, which consists of her three children, Kyree, 18, Kenzie, 11, and Kayleigh, 9.
Young Kayleigh agreed with her mother that the dolls help the girls cope with the trauma they still experience months after Helene’s death.
“I like giving the dolls because it helps them not to be afraid of the rain,” she stated.
Since rain was the primary cause of Helene’s destruction, Tilsher mentioned that she frequently reads about this fear of rain in requests for Anna the Appalachian Doll. She also hears tales of girls growing terrified of trees falling on their houses and loved ones.
Many of the females can’t sleep because of these concerns. “Hopefully they can find some peace with an Anna doll,” Tilsher added.
“We’re not just handing out toys. We’re trying to rebuild a childhood,” she stated.
Visit their website and join their Facebook page to show your support for Tilsher and her daughters as they distribute Anna the Appalachian dolls to girls who have been impacted by Helene, or to request an Anna the Appalachian doll from them.
Source: foxweather
