The Beginning

What Started It All

THE QP DOLL PROJECT IS NAMED AFTER OUR GRANDMOTHER, WHO WAS NICKNAMED YEARS AGO BY OUR GRANDFATHER AS “QP DOLL.” SHE WAS BARELY 5FT TALL, BUT WHAT SHE LACKED IN SIZE SHE MADE UP FOR AS THE LEADER AND MATRIARCH OF OUR MOTHERS FAMILY. HER FAMILY IMMIGRATED TO THE U.S. IN THE EARLY 1900s FROM ITALY, AND SHE INSTILLED IN US ITALIAN PRIDE SO MUCH SO THAT WE ALL HOLD DUAL CITIZENSHIP BETWEEN THE U.S. AND ITALY. SHE PASSED AWAY NOVEMBER 2021. AS SHE DECLINED, OUR VISITS TO THE NURSING HOME BROUGHT ABOUT SADNESS AS WE OBSERVED SO MANY SENIORS SUFFERING ALONE. WHEN COVID FIRST BEGAN, OUR VISITS WERE LIMITED BY WINDOW ACCESS ONLY. THE DECLINE FOR OUR GRANDMOTHER WAS NOT JUST PHYSICAL BUT MENTAL. WE WERE LUCKY THE PAST FEW MONTHS TO SPEND UNLIMITED TIME WITH HER AS SHE WAS DEEMED TERMINAL AND THEREFORE FAMILY WAS ALLOWED TO VISIT IN PERSON. FOR MANY, THIS WAS NOT THE CASE. THEIR SADNESS RESONATED WITH US. WHAT WOULD THE ELDERLY LIVING ALONE DO? WHO WOULD CARE FOR THEM? COULD WE MAKE A DIFFERENCE FOR SOME OF THESE HOUSEBOUND SENIORS? THIS WAS THE BEGINNING OF CREATING THE QP DOLL PROJECT. NOT TO ONLY BRING FOOD, WHICH WOULD FEED SENIORS AND GIVE THEM NOURISHMENT, BUT TO ALSO FEED THEIR SOULS WITH A GIFT AND A STORY TO LET THEM KNOW THEY ARE NOT ALONE.