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Doll ministry puts toys under the tree

Dec. 21, 2005	 News media contact:   Fran  Coode Walsh * (615)
742-5458*  Nashville {712}

NOTE: Photographs and a UMTV video story are available at
http://umns.umc.org <http://umns.umc.org/> .

By Jan Snider

TUKWILA, Wash.--It was a moment Betty Stout treasures.

As the child and her mother stepped onto the public bus, Stout
recognized the doll lovingly clutched in the arms of the little girl.

Stout noticed the doll clothes that she had fashioned herself after the
worn and pre-loved toy had come into her possession. The doll also
received a good scrubbing and a new hairdo before being sent off to be
loved again.

The 84-year-old Stout has refurbished thousands of dolls over the past
35 years. "I just hate to think of any little child not having a toy
under the Christmas tree. I can't think of anything worse," she
explains.

Stout leads a team of "elves" who gather on Thursday mornings at
Riverton Park United Methodist Church in Tukwila, Washington. The dolls
are distributed to children who will have few, if any, presents for
Christmas. This year, more than 200 dolls will be presented to children
in the community near Seattle.

"It's a regular assembly line," she notes. Some of the women specialize
in sewing doll clothes, others crochet new booties or fix hair. One
homebound woman sews quilt blocks for doll blankets. The ministry is
active 11 months out of the year.

It doesn't take a lot of fancy equipment or training to revamp the
dolls. Stout uses her circa 1922 sewing machine and patterns from when
she made doll clothes for her own daughter, who is now 61 years old.
"What I told the girls when we first started was always remember to make
the dress look like it was the only toy their child was going to get,"
says Stout.

If a doll has ink scribbled on it, the ladies have learned to coat the
ink spot with petroleum jelly and leave it in the sun to bleach out.
Because so many of the families that receive the toys have limited
funds, dolls requiring batteries are refurbished so that none are
necessary. Sensitive to a child's concern, battery wells are filled with
plaster so the dolls won't feel empty inside.

A doll is finished when it looks new again. As Stout puts the finishing
touches on a doll she expresses a frequent wish, "I hope she gets a good
little mother."

Many of the dolls are now donated, but originally, the doll dressers had
to scour yard sales and thrift stores for suitable candidates. Money for
supplies is raised by selling collectible dolls that the ladies come
across and fix up.

Right before Christmas, the dolls are displayed in the sanctuary of
Riverton Park United Methodist Church. The Rev. Karla Fredericksen tells
the congregation to, "Pick a doll, and send your special prayer upon
that doll."

And, while most of the doll dressers never get to see the toys delivered
into the arms of excited children, Stout says, "We just hope and pray
they go to children that need them and that they'll know that they're
loved."



*Snider is a freelance producer for United Methodist News Service in
Nashville, Tenn.

News media contact:  Fran Coode Walsh, 615-742-5470, or
newsdesk@umcom.org

********************

United Methodist News Service
Photos and stories also available at:
http://umns.umc.org <http://umns.umc.org/>

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