This hospital in Venezuela restores discarded toys for another round of love

CARACAS, Venezuela — The doll's golden curls are intact and soon her head is, too. One by one, the toys that show the wear and tear of love are restored for the holidays: sewed and combed, stuffed and dressed.

From Barbie dolls to a Kung Fu Panda with a paw raised in triumph, the toys that have been left behind by children are made ready to be gifted once more.

This is the work of the Hospital for Soft Toys, a project in Venezuela's capital.

Its volunteers pick up the pace this time of year. It began with a mother's question: What to do with all the toys once children outgrow them?

Mirady Acosta, a 63-year-old architect who represents the Hospital for Soft Toys, said the idea came from Lilian Gluck, a teacher who in 2017 considered what to do as some of her children left the country.

Throw toys out? Let them fall apart? Neither were good options. She decided to wash them, fix them up and donate them to pediatric patients of the University Hospital of Caracas.

Months later, encouraged by the response, she opened the Hospital for Soft Toys at her home as a nonprofit foundation that also collects and restores other toys and educational games.

About 60 volunteers now meet at least twice a week. The project estimates it has recycled about 70,000 toys in the past seven years.

The foundation also receives donations from abroad that can include school supplies, diapers, shoes, food and candy.

All have been welcome in a country that has seen years of economic crisis and renewed political anxiety after July's election.

Restoring a soft toy's nubby fur or untangling a doll's hair for another round of affection is also helpful for the volunteers.

''By doing this, all of us who come here are in therapy, a therapy of support for one another,'' said Silvia Heiber, 72, who has volunteered for almost three years.

Mirna Morales, a 76-year-old teacher and another volunteer, called it ''one of the best experiences I've ever had.''

María Poleo, 84, was mending a giant stuffed animal. The work is not complicated, she said, as they all have been ''seamstresses and menders at one time or another.''

On some days it seems the number of toys to repair runs low, but then the doorbell rings. And more boxes and bags have arrived.

The toys are delivered to hospitals and schools in poor neighborhoods, but also to homes for older people — anyone ''who needs a little bit of affection,'' Heiber said.

Each restored toy comes with a message encouraging its new owner to embrace the value of recycling.

''Hello, I am your new friend," it says. "I am a doll with experience because I played with another girl. Love me and take care of me and I will do the same with you. When you grow up give me to another girl who will love me and play with me like you.''

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Andry Rincón contributed to this report in Caracas.

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