Youth takes worries away for cancer survivors

Six-year-old Natalie Prochazka had an idea for a fundraiser for the American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life held earlier this month.

With a newly learned skill, she spent hours and hours making worry dolls to sell to raise money to help in the fight against cancer.

In the end, however, she decided the dolls would better serve cancer survivors. She collected donations and handed out the dolls to survivors of the disease.

During the annual relay, her mother Suzanne Prochazka said, Natalie ran around handing out the dolls to the survivors who were dressed in purple.

“She was just zipping around,” Suzanne said.

That way they wouldn’t have worries, the six-year-old said.

The dolls, of Guatemalan origin, are said to take the worry away. According to folklore, if you share your worries with the doll then place it beneath your pillow, the doll takes away your worries while you sleep.

Natalie made nearly 60 dolls to hand out to survivors.

“She got a little help from family; she did most of the work herself,” Suzanne said. She said Natalie spent four or five night working for hours on end to make the dolls in different color outfits and with different hairstyles.

Natalie, who learned how to make the dolls in March, said she enjoyed making the dolls.

Tags: news, cancer, superior