Hooking on Hump Day – Becoming a “Feel Better Friend” Volunteer

Hi everyone it’s Cindy here. Today I’m joining the Hookin on Hump Day blog hop to tell you about a new volunteer organization I’m working for. In the October 2017 issue of Crochet World Magazine they had an article about a non-profit organization called Feel Better Friends (FBF).

According to their website, “Feel Better Friends are handmade dolls stuffed with love and well wishes, crafted by volunteers and donated to children battling cancer and other illnesses.” I’ve enjoyed making amigurumi crochet figures so I thought this would be a great way for me use my crochet hobby to help others.

In order to become a volunteer for this group you have to create a test doll. The first thing I had to do was find a child to make a doll for.  My grand nephew is a bit young yet and I don’t have any other young children in my family. I finally remembered one of my friends that I get together with to crochet and knit had a 2 + year old grandson. Jan was more than happy to let me make a doll for Chase.

Meet Chase

I went over to her house one morning to meet Chase and take some reference pictures. He is a typical 2 + year old boy that is full of energy and exploring everything. I needed to pick up some yarn to match his skin color but everything else I needed I had in my stash.

After a few weeks of work I had the Chase doll done.

One of the things that took the longest was putting in the hair. Chase has a nice full head of hair so I wanted to give his doll the same. Each strand of hair was looped through the crochet stitches. Then I had to trim it like a hair dresser to get it to the right shape.

When I first handed the real Chase his doll his eyes got very big and he could tell it was just for him. I think you can tell by the look on his face that he liked it.

Chase, Grandma Jan & the Chase Doll

After giving Chase his doll I submitted pictures to the FBF volunteers in training Facebook group and was quickly admitted to the approved makers group (you don’t have to be on Facebook to volunteer though). I’m already working on my first official FBF doll for a beautiful little boy. Do to privacy concerns I probably won’t be able to tell you much about my future subjects but I hope to continue to show you the dolls.

If you enjoy making amigurumi and want to volunteer your talents you might want to give the Feel Better Friends a look.  They make dolls for children all over the world and currently have a fairly lengthy waiting list. I look forward to bringing a smile to the face of lots of children that just need a hug and need someone to hug when they might not be feeling very well.