Photo by Charmain Brackett Jasmine Ford, daughter of Capt. David Ford Jr. of Company A, 67th Signal Battalion, received her Operation Give a Hug dolls Oct. 2. It didn’t take long for Teri Ryan’s third grade daughter, Isabella, to become attached to a unique toy.

“I never thought something like that would become a comfort,” said Ryan, Fort Gordon’s Army Family Action Plan coordinator, of an unusual doll designed to give comfort to children. Her daughter immediately took to it after her father, Warrant Officer Allen Ryan recently deployed, wanting to take it to school with her.

A national program called “Operation Give a Hug” has developed these cloth dolls dressed in Army Combat Uniforms to give to children whose parents are deployed. There is no face on the doll, but rather, a plastic slot to hold a photograph of the parent.

The dolls just arrived at Fort Gordon last week, according to Shawn Williams, Army Community Service’s mobilization and deployment manager. With hundreds of Soldiers currently deployed, the Family readiness support assistants are working to distribute the dolls.

“We are very excited about the dolls,” said Dona Ramos, 67th Signal Battalion’s FRSA, who has given out several of the dolls so far. Parents must sign for the dolls. They can only be given to children under the age of 10 yearsold.

Shameeka Ford, whose husband Capt. David Ford Jr. of Company A, 67th Signal Battalion, received dolls for her daughters, Jasmine 2, and Deja, 4, on Oct. 9.

“This will remind them of their daddy,” she said.

Parents, who are interested in getting dolls for their children, should contact their FRSA, according to Williams.

Founded in 2004, Operation Give a Hug has provided more than 52,000 dolls to children of service members in all branches.

The program came from the personal experience of one Army Family.

“In 2002, Maddie Grace Agustin received a Huggee Miss You doll holding a picture of her cousins. At the time, Susan Agustin didn’t give it much thought, other than that it was a cute idea. The doll was soft stuffed with crazy yarn hair, but the face was a picture frame where a photo of her cousins was inserted. Shortly after receiving the doll, the Agustin Family was informed that dad, Gene, would be deploying to the Middle East. Susan decided to take the doll and make it “daddy doll” so that Maddie would have a way to hug her dad everyday,” according to the organization’s website,

www.operationgiveahug.org.

The doll became an important part of Maddie’s daily life. She would write to her father and let him know all the things the “Daddy” doll was doing. It was a good morale booster, not only for her, but for her father as well.