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Associated Press

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: sewn 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 Caracas, 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 paediatric patients of the University Hospital of Caracas, in Venezuela.
Months later, encouraged by the response, she opened the Hospital for Soft Toys at her home as a non-profit 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 confectionery.

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 matted 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 neighbourhoods, 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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Volunteers discuss the best way to restore a doll at the Hospital for Soft Toys in Venezuela, which fixes old toys to distribute to hospitals, schools in poor areas, and lonely old people in the economically strained country. Photo: AP

A wall of restored toys. The Hospital for Soft Toys is a non-profit foundation restoring old toys. Photo: AP

People sorting toys to be mended. The project estimates it has recycled about 70,000 toys in the past seven years. Photo: AP

Volunteers working on old toys. They say the work is helpful for them as well. One called it “one of the best experiences I’ve ever had”. Photo: AP

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Dozens of volunteers in Venezuela fix discarded toys for distribution to hospitals and schools in poor areas, and old people’s homes


Dozens of volunteers in Venezuela fix discarded toys for distribution to hospitals and schools in poor areas, and old people’s homes.


Venezuela