Operation Hug-a-Hero

Try to imagine the emotions of a new dad who was deployed during his baby’s birth, about to see his child for the first time. Try to imagine the emotions of any dad or mom who has been deployed for months and months - an eternity in the life of a child. Now imagine the flood of emotions when daddy or mommy returns home, and that excited child with a knowing smile runs straight to them and reaches up, arms outstretched. That dad or mom remained a daily part of their child’s life, in part because of an incredible program which creates lifelike dolls with the image of the child’s deployed parent.

           
Operation Hug-a-Hero is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization which reaches out to the children of our deployed military by providing eligible families with free Hug-A-Hero dolls. Any family who has lost a family member in the line of duty is also provided a free doll.

           
The parent company, Daddy Dolls, was started in 2005, after the children of founder Tricia Dyal of Jacksonville, were hospitalized shortly after their father’s deployment. Inconsolable and crying for their dad, a family member stitched together a doll in the likeness of him, and thus, Daddy Dolls was born. 

           
In 2008, the non-profit side, Operation Hug-a-Hero, was created to provide dolls to eligible families who could not afford the $25 cost. Operation Hug-a-Hero includes all branches of the service, and eligibility is determined by a four-step criteria: chaplain recommendation, rank, length of deployment, and number of children in the family.

           
Testimonials from families continue to underscore the importance of this program, such as the following thank you from military spouse, Michelle Shear:

“Thank you again for the daddy doll! Harley absolutely loves it. She was in my bed from the day Marc left, until the day she received the daddy doll. Now she sleeps in her own bed and goes to bed with out crying.
           
“Harley has a very rare blood disorder call Cyclic Neutropenia and has to get a shot every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. When her daddy was here, she would hold and squeeze his hand for the shot.
           
“When he was deployed, I had a really hard time getting her to let me give her a shot. Now that she has her Daddy doll, it has made it so much easier, because now she can squeeze her Daddy!”

At any given time, there are several hundred-thousand mothers and fathers deployed in the service of our country. For the children of military families, separation from their parents can lead to tremendous anxiety. Hug-A-Hero™ dolls are a simple design - a full body picture of a loved one sewn into a soft, washable doll. Their purpose, however, is far from simple. Easing the loneliness and anxiety of deployments for children of service members, the Hug-A-Hero™ dolls are now filling a void for our military children. Hand sewn and individually produced in the United States, these dolls bridge the gap between those deployed and the families left at home.

           
Operation Hug-A-Hero’s goal is to be able to provide all children of deployed military service members with a Hug-A-Hero doll through the help of individuals, civic and social groups, and local businesses. To help with this goal, or to make a donation, visit www.operationhugahero.org. This organization truly helps our military heroes and the littlest ones waiting for their return.

Tricia Dyal co-founded Daddy Dolls, Inc. (also known as Hug-A-Hero) along with Nikki Darnell in 2005. A wife of an active duty Marine, and mother to two precious daughters, she saw the need to provide extra comfort for her children and others while their parents were deployed overseas.

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