A nonprofit founded after the LA wildfires is now working to comfort Hill Country families one stuffed animal at a time.
HOUSTON — “Replacing the irreplaceable” is the mission of a nonprofit now helping families in the Texas Hill Country. The Lost Stuffy Project said it hopes to help heal broken hearts one stuffed animal at a time.
CEO Randi Jaffe wanted to do something to help after the Guadalupe River flooded Kerr County on the 4th of July.
Many of the victims were children from Houston and other Texas cities who were attending summer camps.
“I was absolutely horrified and devastated by what had happened,” Jaffe told KHOU 11.
Jaffe founded the Lost Stuffy Project earlier this year during the raging LA wildfires.
“I found myself thinking what would I grab if my house was on fire and it was my 3-year-old’s tiny stuffed animal that was completely irreplaceable,” Jaffe explained.
Her simple idea to reunite children with their lost stuffies exploded on the internet and touched hearts nationwide.
Now, Jaffe is focusing on families in the Hill Country.
“I just thought here we go again, we’re going to be able do some good in this horrific situation,” she said. “The families that have been reaching out, some are bereaved, looking for that stuffed animal to memorialize their child, and that’s just utterly devastating to think about.”
One of those families wanted to find a special stuffed monkey after their daughter was killed at Camp Mystic.
“We post the picture of the stuffed animal with details we have, and the internet gets to work,” said Jaffe.
Within hours, volunteers tracked down the stuffed monkey online and had it shipped to the grieving family.
“I think that any family that has lost a child is looking for any connection, any memory, anything that connects them to their child,” Jaffe told us. “We want to help them find that.”
So far, they’ve helped more than a dozen Texas families, including a young girl who had to leave her pink poodle blankie behind as she escaped Camp Mystic.
“Somebody reached out and said, ‘I have this, it’s in perfect condition, it’s never been used, and she sent me a picture,” Jaffe said. “She felt like she won the lottery in being the one to send her stuffed animal to this family who was suffering.”
Jaffe says that’s the power of the Lost Stuffy Project: anyone, anywhere, can help make a difference for families going through so much.
“The families have been overjoyed, and it’s been one bright spot in this dark time,” said Jaffe.
Other folks in the Hill County are also finding wet, damaged stuffed animals along the river. They’re sharing those photos with Lost Stuffy, hoping to connect with families of the children they belong to.