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Hold on tightly

Thanks to a registered nurse and her loyal supporters,  handmade dolls bring comfort and cheer to ailing children.

By Sophia McDonald Bennett

Photos by Amanda L. Smith

For Special Publications

Published: Midnight, Jan. 2

The dolls come in a variety of hair colors: yellow, black, brown, even red. They sport wide bandanas and have big, open arms ready to give hugs. Each has a poem hanging around her neck, and each wears a tiny hospital gown — just like the kids who are set to receive them.

Known collectively as Treneé’s Treasures, the dolls come from the generosity of Treneé Zweigle. A registered nurse who worked with sick and injured children in California hospitals for more than 20 years, Treneé spent many evenings sitting up with her patients, holding their hands and trying to comfort them after their parents and friends had left for the day.

“Kids in the hospital have such separation anxiety,” she says. “After visiting hours they’re so panic-stricken. They want someone to stay there with them all the time.”

With her other duties at work Treneé says she never had enough time for the children, which ate away at her. “I would cry all the way to work and all the way home,” she says.

Good company for kids

One day it occurred to her that if she could just give the kids something to hold, a friend who never left their bedside, it might help. She grabbed some paper and started sketching the outline of a doll.

The result: Chemo Buddies, for children in the cancer ward, and Hospital Buddies, for kids suffering from a variety of ailments. At 15 to 17 inches in height, the dolls are the perfect size for children to hug tight when they’re feeling lonely.

In recent years, Treneé added flannel Sandman Dolls, intended for babies, and humorous Darn-It-Dolls to the line. She sews each one on her home sewing machine, even though she admits she was a fairly inexperienced seamstress when she started the project.

All the dolls have been very well received. Treneé recalls handing one to a 3-year-old girl. “Her eyes lit up like a Christmas tree and she said, ‘Mine forever? To keep?’” When Treneé said yes, the girl said, “I keep it forever and forever.”

Treneé’s intention was to give all the dolls to needy children through her nonprofit, Happy Smiles for Kids. But eventually people’s relatives starting asking for dolls. Treneé set up a separate for-profit arm, BestDolls4U.com, where people can purchase them. Proceeds from the sale support her charitable work.

Nurses join cause

Treneé relocated to Oregon last year but still relies on a group of nursing friends she met in California to help with sewing. The group has scattered now, with members living in several different states, but Treneé says she still receives little hospital gowns in the mail on a regular basis.

“I think it’s a real positive blessing to everyone involved,” Treneé says. “People want to see kids happy and smiling. That’s the goal here.”

Recently in mid-December, Treneé distributed her dolls for the first time in Oregon, handing them out to children at Sacred Heart Medical Center at RiverBend and McKenzie-Willamette Medical Center, both in Springfield. She got some help from members of the Civil Air Patrol Cadets, a youth organization her son participated in for many years. The presentation went very well, she says, and she’s planning on another one whenever she has enough dolls for each child who needs one.

In the future, Treneé hopes to take dolls to hospitals in surrounding communities such as Cottage Grove. She also hopes to create jobs for people through the Pearl Buck Center. Their workforce can make the basic doll forms, stuff them and add the hair.

“It’s a win-win situation,” she says.

A huggable cause

Treneé’s Treasures, www.Happy
SmilesForKids.org, seeks donations, grants, people to help with sewing, and feedback on designs for new dolls.

Copyright © 2013 — The Register-Guard, Eugene, Oregon, USA