Seniors create 'Izzy' dolls to bring smiles to young ER patients

At difficult times, children just need to feel the love.

A group of crafters at Chartwell Tiffin Retirement Residence is doing just that with members' efforts to bring smiles to the faces of children visiting the emergency department at Georgian Bay General Hospital (GBGH).

By putting their needles and crochet hooks to work, the facility's knitting/crochet group members make ‘Izzy’ dolls. The colourful offerings are then collected and donated each week to fill a treasure chest in the hospital’s emergency department to provide comfort to kids who aren't feeling well.

“We have sent Izzy dolls to Cuba, to Poland for the Ukrainian refugees, to SickKids Hospital in  Toronto, and to GBGH,” group organizer Debbie Allain-Michaud said. “Most of the ladies in our group are over 90, and they have so many projects on the go.”

The same group of crafters also wanted to give back to GBGH financially and held an in-house garage sale earlier this year, raising $400. These funds will be designated to help bring an MRI to GBGH, which is a high priority for the hospital this year.

GBGH Foundation CEO Nicole Kraftscik said the seniors are really making an important contribution to the hospital.

“These hard-working ladies are such an inspiration, and we are honoured to be recipients of their generosity,” Kraftscik said in a release.

“Purchasing and installing an MRI at GBGH is going to end the wait for hundreds of individuals in our community whose treatment is delayed because our region doesn’t have enough MRI capacity. The Tiffin House knitting/crochet group is a shining example of philanthropy by doing what they can to bring this important imaging to Midland.”

As for the dolls, they were first created by Canadian Master Corporal Mark Isfeld’s mother Carol, who sent  them to her son so he would have something to give to the children he met while serving as a peacekeeper in Croatia.

When he was killed in 1994, his comrades asked Carol to continue making the dolls for them to give out.

Today, the knitting pattern can be found online, and volunteers across Canada – including the Tiffin House group – make the dolls and  provide them for children in challenging situations.