The Happy Grandmas Make Special Gifts for Operation Christmas Child

MIAMI, FL — Barbara Korn and Margarita Sosa, who call themselves the Happy Grandmas, sew cuddly stuffed animals to pack in Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes to let children know that God loves them just the way they are.

Margarita Sosa:

Hola. I am Margarita.

Barbara Korn:

Hi. I’m Barbara.

Margarita and Barbara:

And together, we are the Happy Grandmas.

Gabe:

How did you guys meet?

Margarita:

OK. That was a long time ago.

Barbara:

We were in a Sunday school class together. And I remember Margarita, and I remember her asking a lot of questions.

Barbara:

And I’m very shy, so I wasn’t asking any questions.

Margarita:

We’re more than friends. We’re sisters, you know?

And we have traveled together. Oh, we have so much fun traveling.

Margarita:

And then I think this is the last season of our lives, I guess. Or maybe the second to last, maybe.

We’ve been making these Kuddlies, these stuffed animals. They have been going to different missions with our churches. We were praying, “Lord, give us a ministry that we can just provide continually.” We knew about Operation Christmas Child through our churches.

Barbara:

Then we said, “Maybe these little guys can go in there.”

We can come up together with a script to put on a little label on the plastic bag that we put them in to tell a child, you know, God loves them just like they are, and that they’re perfectly imperfect, just like all of us are.

Margarita:

It’s showing God’s love for them. It’s like a comfort. They name Komfort Kuddlie: we always wanted that word “comfort” to be present when whoever receives them gets the comfort from God; and it’s a Kuddlie because you can cuddle to it.

Barbara:

They may use up their soap and their different things, but if they can keep this to hold, it’ll make them think of God loving them and holding them.

Margarita:

See? He has his own personality.

Barbara:

We’ve made just over 5,000 Kuddlies since 2017.

Margarita:

It’s contagious, you know? People will talk all the time, saying, “Oh, I want to help.” I said, “Oh yeah, you can donate– even your clothes, you can donate.” That’s a nice top, Barbara. We can use that for–

Barbara:

She’s going to cut my shirt.

Margarita:

If I can see, and if I can sew, and if I can cut and trace, I’ll be doing this until I die.

Barbara:

I tell my kids, “I’m staying to 100”, and they’re like, “Why would you want to do that?” And I said, “I have Kuddlies to make. I have things to do.” And as long as God keeps me healthy, we will continue.

Margarita:

We make them, God places them.


Samaritan’s Purse is a nondenominational evangelical Christian organization providing spiritual and physical aid to hurting people around the world. Since 1970, Samaritan’s Purse has helped meet the needs of people who are victims of war, poverty, natural disasters, disease, and famine with the purpose of sharing God’s love through His Son, Jesus Christ. The organization serves the Church worldwide to promote the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.

The mission of Operation Christmas Child is to demonstrate God’s love in a tangible way to children in need around the world. Through this project, Samaritan’s Purse partners with the local church worldwide to share the Good News of Jesus Christ and make disciples of the nations.

CONTACT: Kaitlyn Lahm, news@samaritan.org


Read more news on Non Profit / Faith Based Organizations, and Christmas Gift Catalog.


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