The Russellville Middle School FCCLA students recently took up a project that flexed their newly-learned sewing skills and gave them philanthropic experience.

Teacher Rachel Agee presented the idea to the students to make doll blankets to send to the organization A Doll Like Me, a project started by social worker-turned-doll maker Amy Jandvisevits, who creates dolls for children who are different in their physical appearance – dolls that look just like them, to show them they are beautiful.

Agee’s friend and fellow RMS teacher Lauren Hellums approached her with the idea first.

“I was encouraged to see how passionate my students were working on this service project,” said Agee.

Ashlee Moon, FCCLA president, said “this service project was important to us because we were able to bring joy and help children who are unique in their own way.”

On her Facebook page, Jandvisevits writes it is her “heartfelt belief that dolls should look like their owners, and dolls should be available in all colors, genders and body types.”

“In an ideal world, limb difference, body type, medical condition, birthmarks and hand differences would be as accepted as all of the other things that make us unique,” Jandvisevits said.

She custom makes dolls with these factors in mind and tries to make them as similar to each individual child as possible. The blankets Agee’s class has made will be sent to Jandvisevits and paired with the dolls she is making.