Amy Jandrisevits, from Wisconsin, is an owner of a small business with a very beautiful mission. A doll collector since childhood, Amy has created A Doll Like Me.
The aim of this project is to create dolls that would have the same characteristics as their owners with disabilities and/or rare conditions. It was a lack of diversity in the dolls that pushed Amy to begin creating dolls like no other, in turn, making the children feel needed and included. And so, 4 years ago, having worked as a social assistant in pediatric oncology unit for years, Amy felt the urge to start creating representative toys for children.
On her personal Facebook account she says, “Even when I was a social worker, I thought it was important to have dolls available to the kids because everyone should have something to hold. Everyone should have a doll that looks like them.
Not only beautiful, the dolls created by A Doll Like Me make a difference in the lives of hundreds of children.
More info: Facebook | Instagram | ca.gofundme.com
Jandrisevits goes beyond and above in order to make each doll resemble the child it’s intended for as closely as possible. To do so, she has learned to replicate everything from birthmarks to limb differences. Each doll is unique, yet they still have one thing in common – all dolls wear a smile.
“It’s so difficult to tell a kid ‘you’re beautiful just the way you are, but you’re never going to see a doll that looks like you.” – says a 45-year-old Amy, founder of A Doll Like Me.
A Doll Like Me has provided over 300 dolls so far which have been shipped to children all around the world. Amy’s ultimate goal is to turn her small business into an official non-profit organization where every child in need could get their one-of-the-kind doll free of charge.
And many people are responding kindly to her mission, as she has already reached $38.000 out of $50.000 goal on GoFund.me. Consequently, now many of the dolls are funded by donations!