How it all began

Dolls for Kids actually began as an accident. Judy and her husband Mike made yearly trips on their motorcycles from Spokane, Washington to Browns Valley, Minnesota. September 26, 2015 started out as Judy and her hubby rode west from Browns Valley on a sunny day…good bike riding weather. Cool without being cold. Judy had on full gear, helmet, leather jacket, chaps, bike riding boots…even gloves although she thought about ditching them as her hands were all sweaty. They had gassed up in X and were riding west from Bozeman, Montana. Judy sensed something was wrong with her motorcycle as she attempted to slow down backing off on her throttle. She told Mike through her radio headset she was going to “pull over”. As she headed onto the narrow shoulder of the road she quickly noted she was not going to stop in time before she’d head over the edge of the road where there was a tight turn in the road. She did end up going over the end of the road into the ditch and fought to remain upright. Mike would later report he saw her riding into the ditch and continuing to “ride it out until her back tire flipped, and that was all it took. Judy flew into the air and landed face down in the sagebrush. She broke most of the ribs on her right side of her chest and fractured her back at the T6 level, making her a paraplegic. Skipping ahead, Judy was paralyzed from the chest down. She spent three months at the Craig Hospital for SCI and TBI (Spinal Cord Injury and Traumatic Brain Injury) in Denver, Colorado.

Judy and Mike returned to their basic living quarters on the second story of a large pole building in Browns Valley. They would spend almost two years renovating and finishing the 1200 square foot home where Judy would continue therapy. Early on, Judy accepted her life change from a “normal’ person to a paraplegic. She didn’t believe in lying around feeling sorry for herself. She got busy and found her days filled with sewing, quilting and crocheting. Not even a car accident in 2018 where she broke her right leg and spending six weeks healing in the local Nursing Home would get her down. She continued to sew, quilt and crochet.

Judy loved having her grandchildren visit and so she built a little corner play space for them. Two dollhouses, 18” dolls and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Fort kept them entertained. And while she worked on many of her donation projects, a thought kept circulating through her head as she watched her grandchildren playing with the dolls One thing the grandchildren loved to do was to change clothes on the dolls….over and over while they play acted out scenes.  Judy bought several sets of clothes for the dolls and kept adding to the collection. 

Her thoughts went back to Craig Hospital where she noted there were no children at the hospital, only adults. So she wondered where injured and ill children went? Certainly there were spinal chord injured children. Where did they go for therapy and treatment? She put thoughts into action and found out the children went to the Children’s Hospital in Aurora, CO, a suburb of Denver. 

The next step was obvious to her. January of 2019 Judy set up a 501(c)(3) non profit charity, and named it Dolls 4 Kids. Her husband, Mike and son Jake lent listening ears and offered advice. Outlining her charity, Judy posted it on Facebook and soon the donations came rolling in. Relatives, friends and contacts on Facebook gave generously. One such donor gave $90, or the equivalent of 3 dolls purchased from Target. She wrote, “I am thankful for my three healthy granddaughters. I am donating in their honor.”