A group of women from the Bainbridge Island Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints organized a sewing party to make toys that will bring hope and comfort to children in crisis around the world.

April Dever organized a teddy bear-making effort for the Dolls of Hope project to send comfort toys to children in refugee camps. During September, several women started the sewing project, which grew to 30 women who cut, stuffed and stitched teddy bears. “Our church group does a lot of service projects, and this one was really special because each teddy bear is going to make a child happy,” Dever said.

By early October, the dollmakers had completed 100 brightly colored, squeezable, fleece teddy bears. To celebrate the end of their task, several group members took the bears to Pia, the Peacekeeper in Sakai Park, to take a photo of the dolls in the troll’s arms.

“The reason we are meeting at Pia is because these bears will be going to children in refugee camps and to other areas where there are children in crisis, hoping to bring joy and peace to the lives of children in need. Pia the Peacemaker seemed an appropriate setting for this project,” Dever said.

Dever spoke with a representative from Dolls of Hope who described the moment children receive their toys. “They automatically hug it. They know what to do with it,” Dever said. “It’s received with love.”

Dolls of Hope is a project of The Undaunted Foundation, which speaks out against hate and bigotry and fights for equity and justice by increasing tolerance, respect, and compassion through education and service opportunities, and has delivered to more than 82,654 children in 46 countries since 2016.

Learn how to sew dolls and bears for children worldwide; visit www.dollsofhope.org/patterns.

Women from the Church of Latter-Day Saints on Bainbridge Island gathered at Pia the Peacekeeper troll to take a photo of all the teddy bears they made for children.