Bev Mondzuik says she feels good about doing something for others. She鈥檚 helped make more than 800 cuddly dolls for an international relief organization.
Mondzuik, a long-term client of the vocational therapies program at the Battlefords Mental Health Centre, has been working on the small knit dolls for more than a year, she says.
Staff member Janet Beaubien, a therapist, knits the sock-like exterior of the dolls and Mondzuik stuffs them with batting and sews them shut, ready for children to enjoy in parts of the world not so fortunate as ours.
Each one is a different, with a variety of colours and patterns, but she has no favourite.
鈥淭hey鈥檙e all my favourites,鈥� she laughs.
Mondzuik visits the vocational therapies department about three times a week, helping take care of her mother on the remaining days. On each visit, her first priority is the dolls. She says if there are no dolls, she usually spends her time socializing.
Over the years she鈥檚 worked on many projects and the walls of her apartment are filled with pictures and needlepoint. She was happy to take on the doll project.
鈥淚 like dolls,鈥� says Mondzuik.
In fact, she collects them. She especially likes porcelain dolls. Some of her collection of dolls she played with as a child.
She also likes stuffed animals.
鈥淢y apartment is full of goodies,鈥� she smiles.
Registered psychiatric nurse Glenna Olenick says the vocational therapy program provides a positive experience where clients can enjoy socializing or working on crafts. It encourages independence, she says, but is also an important support system.
Mondzuik enjoys knowing the dolls she helped make are making a child happy somewhere.
