Lodge resident donates her stuffed toys to foster children

Dorothy Gazan, a resident of The Lodge at MapleCreek, has spent her 13 years there building up a collection of stuffed animals. The hundreds of stuffed critters are her pride and joy, and she’s named every one. “Some of them have three names!” said Dorothy, 73. So it was a significant gift when she decided to donate some of her cherished collection to Lutheran Social Services’ foster care program. Laura Mitchell arrived at The Lodge on Wednesday afternoon, Nov. 17, to receive the first batch of stuffed toys and was met by Dorothy’s niece, Susan. They visited with Dorothy, who explained some of the special things about the ones she was donating. In the weeks ahead, Dorothy will be going through her collection and choosing more of the stuffed toys to give away. Already, she has called Laura back for another pick-up on Friday Nov. 19. Dorothy said she hopes the children who get these soft animals will treasure them as much as she has.