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Doll donation
delivers joy
DAYVILLE — Recently, local resident Amanda Whitaker donated a set of lifelike baby dolls to Westview Health Care Center’s Therapeutic Recreation Department to provide a realistic feeling of human contact to the residents at the Dayville skilled nursing facility. These dolls can provide a safe and easy way for Westview residents to once again experience the delight of holding an infant. In her own life, these dolls have contributed feelings of parental pride and joy to Whitaker at times when she needed that emotional support.
She watched proudly as she presented Westview’s Therapeutic Recreation Department with her gift and enjoyed witnessing the immediate happiness that the dolls generated for the Westview community. She said: “I started to learn about these dolls through the internet and ordered a couple. I found that their lifelike appearance, body weight, and the texture of their skin and hair offered me a sense of motherly responsibility when I would hold them. When I began to think about how they could also provide this feeling of family love to some of our community’s seniors, I reached out to Westview to coordinate this donation and I was so pleased to personally bring in the dolls. Seeing the smiles on the faces of the residents holding the dolls was the gift that I received that day.”
David Panteleakos, administrator of Westview Health Care Center, said: “Amanda’s generosity in sharing these dolls with Westview is a wonderful gesture. Holding a baby is a guaranteed method of providing joy to our residents. By donating these dolls, she has also donated hours of shared smiles, warm feelings, and loving conversations between the residents and staff of Westview Health Care Center.”
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