Amy Antone of North Providence had her first crisis as a mother this past summer. Her 3-year-old son Lucas fell and hurt his eye. Rushed by ambulance to a hospital, they learned he needed surgery.
Lucas is doing fine now and something good came out of the mishap – the Cuddles of Hope Foundation. Her son’s accident inspired her to form the nonprofit to give stuffed animals, coloring books and crayons to injured and ailing kids.
She said the idea came to her when Lucas went in for the surgery and she wished she had that little something extra to comfort him.
Through her website – cuddlesofhope.org – and her Facebook page, she has been collecting stuffed animals and the like from donors and delivering them to Hasbro Children’s Hospital in Providence, where the staff passes them along to kids.
So far, she’s donated about 50 gift bags filled with the items.
“It just felt right,” Antone said, “to help kids who are in uncomfortable and frightening situations.”
Eventually, she hopes to expand the operation.
“Someday, maybe my kids will get involved with it,” she said.
Scott Blake is a PBN staff writer. Email him at Blake@PBN.com.