Josilyn Whitney Martin-Richardson, 9, has accomplished a great goal. She has officially collected over 1k dolls to share with young ladies around the world for Christmas. Josilyn started this toy drive with her mother in 2015. It was all inspired when Josilyn took a trip to the park with her grandmother and she saw little girls playing with their dolls and there was one little girl who did not have one. At that moment, she came to the conclusion that all little girls should have a Barbie. She helped arrange a brunch with her mother at The Velvet Lounge and the first toy drive came close to reaching her goal of 1K Barbies. This year, she was able to achieve her goal three days before Christmas.
We asked Josilyn why she did this. She said she felt it was important for her to do this toy drive again: “I am an only child and I don’t have anyone to play with most of the time, so I would just play with my Barbies and I like how it feels to give back.” We also spoke with Josilyn’s mother Kellie Martin. “This is so overwhelming,” she said. “This was all Josilyn’s idea and to realize your child is a visionary at such a young age is a lot. The biggest lesson I would like to give her as a parent is that there is nothing that you can’t accomplish. She has been able to bless little girls all over the city and all over the world. She can do anything her heart desires and she can do anything she puts her mind to.”
For sure, 1k little girls will be excited to see a new Barbie under their tree this Christmas. The excitement is because of Josilyn’s vision.
Take a look at a few of the pictures below.
