Handmade toys ease hospital stays for children in Latvia
A Jelgava-based volunteer group led by Vaira Bergmane has sewn and delivered more than 12,000 handmade toys to hospitalized children over the past two years.
For more than two years, Jelgava resident Vaira Bergmane and six fellow volunteers have been sewing toys for children in hospitals, hoping to bring a bit of comfort to young patients. The initiative began in 2024 at a sewing camp organized by Inna Kopica together with the "Burdas salons" studio, where participants decided to donate their creations to the "Drosmes kaste" (Courage Box) at a children's hospital.
Since then, the group has produced over 12,000 toys. More than 2,000 packaged toys are currently stored at Bergmane's workshop, awaiting delivery on September 29. Although the number of active seamstresses has dropped from more than a dozen to just five, their output keeps growing — last year alone they delivered over 4,300 toys to hospitals in Riga, Jelgava, Liepāja, North Kurzeme and Jēkabpils.
A carrot-shaped mascot
To support the effort, Bergmane designed a mascot called "Drosmes burkāniņš" (Courage Carrot), inspired by her childhood memories of harvesting carrots at an agricultural school near Riga. The carrot character now accompanies the volunteers to hospitals and to sewing masterclasses held at the "Burdas salons" premises in central Riga.
Beyond small toys, the team also creates unique "dream toys" — one-of-a-kind items based on drawings made by specific hospitalized children, produced in cooperation with hospital teachers. Making a single custom toy can take nearly half a working day.
Toys are not delivered around Christmas, since other organizations provide gifts during that period. Materials for a single small toy cost around two euros, but the group has never asked for donations — any support they receive is treated purely as encouragement to continue their work.
