Grandmother’s example inspires Christmas outreach project |
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Written by LAURIE STEVENS BERTKE, Chronicle Writer
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Friday, 05 December 2008 01:00 |
TOLEDO—Donating Barbie dolls to needy children every Christmas was just one of the many ways Agnes Smith reached out to help others in her lifetime.
After stockpiling the dolls throughout the year from donations to the community clothes closet were she volunteered at the Church of the Holy Family in Novi, Mich., she would sort and gift-wrap the Barbies to be given away as Christmas gifts for low-income families.
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| Madeleine Smith, 10, and her mother Nicolle Smith display some of the
Barbie dolls they collected and gift-wrapped for children in need this
Christmas. (Chronicle photo by Laurie Stevens Bertke) |
Though Mrs. Smith passed away last January, her caring example inspired her granddaughter, Madeleine Smith, 10, to continue the tradition this season.
"I thought she was a really giving person, and that’s why I started doing it," says Madeleine, a fifth-grader at Toledo Gesu School. "I wanted to continue what she was doing."
Madeleine recently spent a weekend preparing more than 100 Barbie dolls for the Christmas giveaway, assisted by her mother, her 4-year-old sister, Marielle, and two cousins her age from Michigan. In the home of her grandfather, Bernie Smith, they packaged the dolls in tissue paper and clear plastic boxes adorned with bows and stickers. Each box includes at least two Barbie dolls, with an extra outfit for each doll and an assortment of accessories — "enough to keep a little girl busy and having fun," according to Nicolle Smith, Madeleine’s mother.
"We had fun," adds Mrs. Smith. "It was like playing dress-up."
Madeleine received all of the dolls and accessories in response to a notice she put in the parish bulletin at Gesu earlier this year, explaining the tradition and requesting donations of gently used Barbie dolls and accessories.
She says the number of dolls that were collected in a box she left in the school office exceeded her expectations.
The Barbies will go to Church of the Holy Family "for familiarity purposes" this season, her mother says, but they hope to find a place closer to home where they can continue the tradition in the future.
"We’ve been collecting for awhile, and we will collect all year round," adds Mrs. Smith. "Just because Christmas is coming, doesn’t mean that we’re done collecting."
Madeleine, who has dubbed her project "Grandma’s Girls," fondly recalls helping her grandmother sort and dress the Barbie dolls in years past.
"She had a friend that would do their hair, and made sure that their hair was nice and neat," Madeleine says. "And then she would invite me over and I would help her pick out outfits.
"I think she would be pretty happy I’m continuing it with my cousins that also worked on the Barbies," Madeleine adds. "She was really happy each Christmas that we collected all those Barbies and gave them back to the church."
Nicolle Smith recalls the mother of her husband, Mark, as a selfless, giving person. "She was like an angel here on earth," says her daughter-in-law.
For many years, the elder Mrs. Smith volunteered weekly in the community clothes closet at her church, organizing donations and putting together baby layettes. Carol Ann Donnelly, director of Christian service projects at Church of the Holy Family, says Mrs. Smith also helped set up the display room for the annual Christmas shopping spree, during which the Barbie dolls were given away. The parish invites families in need to ìshopî for free Christmas gifts for their loved ones at the event.
"She was always taking care of somebody," says Mrs. Donnelly of Mrs. Smith, adding she was a modest person who never sought recognition.
"Agnes is missed — people still ask about her, and we have her picture in the hallway," she adds. "She was just a good soul."
To donate Barbie dolls or accessories to Madeleine Smith at any time during the year, contact her at smithfam005@aol.com.
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Last Updated on Friday, 06 February 2009 09:39 |
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