North Vancouver church gifts handmade jellyfish dolls for young patients at Lions Gate Hospital

A North Shore church got crafty in giving back to the community this holiday season.

St. Andrews United Church’s knitting and crochet club gifted 20 crochet jellyfish dolls for pediatric ward patients at Lions Gate Hospital Tuesday.

“To me, doing something good for Lions Gate Hospital, we all live in the North Shore area,” said Mehrnaz Mozaffarian, mission team chair of St. Andrews United Church. “This is one of the main health centres here, so we wanted to help them.”

But the dolls are also a fundraiser for the hospital. People can donate a minimum of $50 to gift the one-of-a-kind jellyfish doll to a pediatric ward patient, with proceeds going to the hospital’s Bigger, Better Cancer Campaign to expand their oncology clinic.

Each of the 20 jellyfish dolls are unique with a different colour and a matching hat to go on top.

After Mozaffarian read an online article from the U.K. of someone donating hand-crafted stuffies to a pediatric ward, it sparked the idea of doing that in her own community.

Jellyfish were chosen as they are easy for beginners and turn out beautiful, she said.

Shortly after the idea to create the jellyfish dolls sparked, the church ordered yarn and club members began crocheting away.

Mozaffarian launched the church’s knitting and crochet in May as a way to enhance mental well-being and create a sense of belonging, especially after the COVID-19 pandemic.

“It wasn’t just a knitting and crochet club, it was more for most of them,” Mozaffarian said. “We have newcomers, immigrants or they don’t have anybody here, this is something that helps them to integrate more in the community. That’s why I decided to continue this [club].”

Crochet club member Vafa Vafaei created four jellyfish dolls, some blue and pink along with yellow and light blue.

Vafaei said she is happy to be part of a good cause and enjoyed her son taking in on the fun too.

“We have a very good time there, and we find some new friends from all over the world,” Vafaei said. “I want to thank Mehrnaz because she made this beautiful class for us.”

Louise Campbell, vice-president of the Lions Gate Hospital Foundation, feels thankful for the church’s gift and how it will bring joy to patients faces.

“We really appreciate these volunteers at St. Andrews and the time they put in to create these gorgeous little creatures,” Campbell said. “It’s going to benefit children in our care here at Lions Gate, and yet also support fundraising for the wider hospital.”

“It’s a truly thoughtful Christmas gift,” she added.

Oncology clinics offer personalized care with a range of various medical staff to treat cancer and cancer-related problems, according to the hospital’s website.

With the rise of people moving to the North Shore and people being diagnosed with cancer, the oncology clinic needs a renovation, Campbell added. The oncology clinic at Lions Gate Hospital was last renovated 20 years ago. 

Donations from the campaign will help the clinic double in size to help them accommodate more patients, and the oncology pharmacy will also expand, providing patients to latest treatments and therapies in a timely manner. 

"More young people are being diagnosed with cancer and people are living longer," said Campbell. "All of these things make our clinic busier than ever."

With the positive feedback Mozaffarian has gotten since gifting the dolls, she hopes to do this again in the future.

People interested in donating to gift the jellyfish dolls to patients can donate on the Lions Gate Hospital Foundation website. The fundraiser will run until all the dolls are gifted, Campbell said.

Abby Luciano is the Indigenous and civic affairs reporter for the North Shore News. This reporting beat is made possible by the Local Journalism Initiative. [email protected]