c. 2006 Religion News Service
(UNDATED) A 12-inch talking Jesus doll may find its way to needy children this Christmas after the Marines’ Toys for Tots Christmas toy drive reversed course Wednesday (Nov. 15) and decided to accept the dolls.
The Toys for Tots Foundation had initially declined a donation of 4,000 Jesus dolls from the Valencia, Calif.-based Beverly Hills Teddy Bear Company, saying they could be inappropriate for non-Christian children.
“We realized it’s lot less time-consuming to find homes for the dolls than it is to answer media and complaints,” said Bill Grein, vice president of Marine Toys for Tots Foundation, in Quantico, Va.
When the decision to reject the toys got out, the toy company began receiving hundreds of phone calls and e-mails from organizations and people who would like to receive the dolls.
“The phones are ringing off the hook. There is a new e-mail every few seconds. It is unbelievable,” said Michael La Roe, director of business development for the company. “We had someone write in from Okinawa, Japan. The word is spreading all over the country and in some cases all over the world.”
The dolls, which retail for $20, quote six different Scripture verses from the Gospels of Matthew and John, including, “I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.”
He said that within the next few days the toy company will sort through all the requests and try to see how they can accommodate as many people as possible. They will also try to accommodate the Toys for Tots program as well, but they will not be giving all 4,000 dolls to them.
The dolls they do give to the Marines, though, will be distributed on a local level to Toys for Tots chapters in California.
La Roe said that by the end of this year, his company will have donated close to $1 million in retail worth of product. Samaritan’s Purse, a relief agency run by evangelist Franklin Graham, has received thousands of the dolls.
The toy can be purchased on http://www.blessedtoys.com.
KRE/JL END BIRD
Editors: To obtain a photo of the Jesus doll, go to the RNS Web site at https://religionnews.com. On the lower right, click on “photos,” then search by subject or slug.