FrontLine Service Receives Dolls for Divas Donation for Twinkle Shop

CLEVELAND – For the fifth year in a row, FrontLine Service has received an abundance of dolls of color for Twinkle Shop through the difficult pandemic this year.

Dolls For Divas, a local charity organization, gave a generous annual donation of dolls for families in need. The organization has given to other organizations but has primarily given to FrontLine Service for five consecutive years. Stevenson said she found the organization welcoming and dedicated.

Twinkle Shop brings together families in FrontLine Service’s programs for those who are homeless or who have experienced violence distributing gifts, winter coats, and a hot meal for the holiday season. However this year, neither organization expected things to go as previously planned. Thanks to the generosity of companies, churches, individuals and Dolls for Divas, FrontLine Service was able to provide gifts, and coats to over forty families by delivering gifts to the family’s home rather than the traditional in-person party.  Dolls For Divas collected close to 100 dolls of color for FrontLine Service.

Denisha Stevenson, Dolls for Divas founder, said she and her fellow donors weren’t hopeful as the pandemic worsened throughout the year. But because of that, she said, Dolls For Divas pushed harder to find and get more dolls for the holiday season.

“We really needed to come together and make this happen this year because we’re needed more,” she said.

Stevenson founded Dolls For Divas with the sole purpose to make sure children have dolls that represent who they are. Stevenson, who is black, grew up with her grandmother who made the effort to make sure she had dolls that looked like her. Looking back, Stevenson said she understands many other children aren’t as lucky.

“I wanted to just make sure that little girls that are African-American get dolls that look like them to make them feel beautiful,” she said.

Stevenson also recalls the infamous “doll test” from 1940s psychologists Kenneth and Mamie Clarke who showed the effects of segregation and generations of racism in America using dolls. In the test, black children were shown a white and black doll, where they would associate the white doll with positive characteristics, and the black doll with negative ones.

This test has been conducted recently with similar results. Stevenson wants to make sure that children growing up have the self-esteem to love themselves and their people, which she believes starts with a doll that looks like them.

“That’s why it’s important for me to make sure that African-American girls know how beautiful they are and that [African-American dolls] are their first choice.

In addition to the hard work Dolls for Divas has put in over the years, Stevenson also announced her organization has been recognized as an official nonprofit organization. Stevenson said she is amazed at how a girls-night-in activity grew into a dedicated nonprofit organization.

ABOUT DOLLS FOR DIVAS

Since 2012, with the help of family, friends, co-workers, and others, Dolls for Divas has blossomed into an organization that has collected and donated more dolls than the previous year. Through partnerships with other charitable organizations, the Dolls for Divas organization has helped bring joy to an ever-growing number of little divas. To learn more about how to contribute or help Dolls for Divas, contact Denisha Stevenson at: 440-339-2221 or denisha08@gmail.com