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OPHS grad to continue ‘Hugs for the Holidays’

Tierney Harvey
Posted 6/21/17

ORANGE PARK – Marissa Leslie is ready to move on to college, leaving high school years behind, yet she is still growing her collection of stuffed animals. The Orange Park High School graduate holds …

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OPHS grad to continue ‘Hugs for the Holidays’


Posted

ORANGE PARK – Marissa Leslie is ready to move on to college, leaving high school years behind, yet she is still growing her collection of stuffed animals. The Orange Park High School graduate holds the toys close to her heart. They aren’t for her though; Leslie collects the toys to brighten the lives of hospital and nursing home patients.

Since 2014, Leslie has donated hundreds of stuffed animals and teddy bears to children through a program she began called Hugs for the Holidays.

Leslie, 18, was inspired to start the stuffed animal drive by a dance teacher she had. She said her teacher’s aunt was in Haven Hospice and someone donated stuffed animals to the patients.

“And she said that her aunt actually held onto the stuffed animal when she passed away,” Leslie said. “That kind of gave me the idea to do that for others.”

Each year, usually in December, Leslie sets up a cardboard box at nearby schools to collect donations. She said in the past, she has collected at Orange Park High School, Oakleaf High School and Oakleaf Junior High.

The first year, in December 2014, she donated 38 stuffed animals she bought with her own money that year.

“She wanted them to know that they never needed to feel alone in the hospital and that they always had a friend to hug. She delivered them to Haven Hospice, Ronald McDonald House, Wolfson Children’s Hospital & NICU and Life Care Center of Orange Park,” said her mother Michelle Leslie.

The following year, in December 2015, the program grew again with Marissa donating 133 stuffed animals. And it kept growing, when in July 2016, she donated 171 comforting creatures and six months later another 108.

“This all was due to [volunteering] for a cancer walk and at the Ronald McDonald House [where] she has over 600 community service hours. Her dream is to attend a university to obtain a nursing degree in pediatric oncology. I could not think of a better way to recognize her giving heart and future goals all from volunteering,” Michelle Leslie said.

And while she will be moving on to St. Johns River State College, she plans to continue Hugs for the Holidays in the fall.

Marissa Leslie said her motivation to keep the drive going year after year comes from seeing how happy the donations make people.

“They were so thankful for me,” she said, and it made her want to keep making a difference in their lives.

She said one year, she delivered the stuffed animals individually to the patients at the Life Care Center of Orange Park.

“I remember this one lady just couldn’t stop smiling and she was so thankful,” Leslie said. “She would tell me a story about how her and her husband met and I thought it was really neat how she just opened up to me.”

It’s not just children who appreciate the stuffed animals, she said, “It’s everyone.”

Leslie said her community service also helped her when filling out college applications and she hopes she can motivate others to get involved as well.

“It helps other people to maybe say, hey, this person is making a difference, maybe I can make a difference in something else.”

Leslie encourages others to get involved in community service.

“You will realize how much of a big difference you can make.”

Leslie plans to study nursing and focus in pediatrics, she said, a decision influenced by her volunteer work.

In addition to Hugs for the Holidays, she has volunteered with Ronald McDonald House. She said her sister volunteered there in the past and she was always interested in trying it.

“When I was old enough, I tried it, and I just wanted to keep going,” she said. “Some of the kids there would come up to us, socialize with us. It was a really neat experience.”

Story updated on June 28 at 8:53 a.m.