Maybe the reason is time and what is said of its ability to heal even the deepest wound. To me, Jessica Bachus seemed a completely different person.

It’s been a year since we chatted. I thought back then she was in deep despair. It had been two years since she lost her daughter, Kenzi, at birth.

She needed something then to channel the pain and the loss. What she came up with was a plan to do what she could not for her own daughter: She would give other girls a doll at Christmas. Yes, she would give them to needy girls.

That first year, she gave away 200 dolls. Six hundred dolls were given away the following year. I spoke with her last year, shortly after she established her nonprofit, Dolls for Daughters®.

She was hoping to give away at least another 600 that Christmas. She ended up giving away more than 1,100.

The 33-year-old Denver resident said she had found a new purpose in life. Dolls for Daughters® had a five-member board of directors and some 65 volunteers and was expanding the giveaway, having formed the Toys for Boys® toy drive.

This year, she said, the goal is to collect 3,000 dolls and new toys for needy children. The charity, to date, already has collected about 2,000, she said, adding she knows that will not be nearly enough, not in these economic times.

To read more of Bill Johnson’s article, click here and you will be directed to the Denver Post.