A few years ago, the sisterhood at Renee Feinman's synagogue donated handmade teddy bears to All Children’s Hospital. The 61-year-old, along with six women from her synagogue, most recently organized a mask-making event for All Children’s, which ended up sending 100 masks to the facility’s non-clinical personnel and family members visiting.
As Feinman finished that project, however, she started to think of other ways she could help the community and be productive during this stressful and difficult time.
“I thought of the Trump doll and the food pantries,” Feinman—who’s been teaching science in Pinellas County for 20 years—told Creative Loafing Tampa Bay.
The dolls she’s talking about are handmade, 7-inch voodoo dolls, which she started making after the election in 2016.
“A teacher friend at school had a very ornate one made by her artist sister. I thought it would be a good panacea for those who were unhappy with the election results,” Feinman said. So she created her own design and gave them as a gift to friends, “who enjoyed them, got a chuckle and found them to be a good conversation piece”
Feinman, who’s lived in Clearwater for 38 years, sells the dolls on Etsy for $20.21; each shipment comes with six straight pins. The profit from each sale is $15, and it all goes to Feeding Tampa Bay, which has been tasked with feeding the growing number of locals who now find themselves unsure of where their next meals are coming from.
“When I sell the first 10, I'll send them $150 and hopefully have 10 more voodoo dolls done and ready to load into Etsy so I can continue raising money. The dolls—which involve lots of hand-stitching, machine sewing, ironing on the fact, stuffing and closing—are tough to make, too.
“I can only make so many in a day. I'll make as many as I can and update Etsy as I make them,” Feinman said.
Stress relief, plus a chance to pin a prick and help locals in need. Sounds like a good gift to us.
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