For this week’s Feel-Good Friday, we’re back in the Carolinas and the survivors of Hurricane Helene. But instead of discussing the rebuilding of structures, the focus will be on the rebuilding hearts and souls. One mother and her two daughters recognized this and came up with an ingenious way to help the girls of Western North Carolina and Appalachia find joy and renewal through the gift of a doll:

Angela Tilsher knew right away there would be a need. Despite having no ties to the Carolinas herself, when she saw the destruction, she knew she had to find a way to help.

“It’s widespread, all of it, so the fastest way I could think of was, we’re going to send a doll,” Angela said.

As a mom of two daughters, Angela knows the power a doll can have. Knowing how much her own daughters love their American Girl Dolls, Angela came up with a spin on the name, and the Appalachian Girl Doll was born.

How cool is that? Many of us aren’t good at wielding hammers or power tools. We also may not be able to take time away from our own homes to help others rebuild theirs. But there are a multitude of ways we can extend aid. Angela Tilsher was both imaginative and resourceful to come up with a practical and prescient method of not only reaching out and giving back, but she focused on what soothed her own girls, and used that method to restore hope and confidence for the girls of Western North Carolina and Appalachia. Taking a page from the American Doll concept, Tilsher created a backstory and theme for this doll that the girls of this region could relate to. Pretty genius and pretty boss!

Dolls can help girls imagine a life outside of the one that currently exists, and they can also be a way to process trauma and loss. Doll play also gives a sense of normalcy, especially when what was once normal has been washed away:

Through donations and money out of her own pocket, Angela and her daughters, Kenzie and Kayleigh, created Anna. Anna’s story is rooted in Appalachia, resonating with little girls who lost their toys in the floodwaters from Helene.

“She knows what they’re going through, that she’s going to be their friend,” Angela said. “She has an Appalachian background, and she is part of them.

For little girls like Braylee, Anna is more than just a doll; she’s a sign of hope.

“I had a doll house that got a lot of mold and I think I lost a couple of unicorn toys,” Braylee told us. “I couldn’t find them in there because I think they might have floated away.”

“Just utter joy, and it’s been a long time since I’ve seen her so happy about something,” said Braylee’s grandmother, Connie.

Tilsher continues her work of giving dolls to Hurricane Helene survivors through her non-profit: Mountain Heirlooms: An Appalachian Doll Initiative. Tilsher and her daughters met up with CBS News’ “CBS Mornings” in Greenville, SC, who documented her journey delivering more dolls.

WATCH:

🚨#BREAKING: Two girls, 11-year-old Kenzie and 9-year-old Kayleigh donated 100+ custom American Girl dolls to survivors of Hurricane Helene in Western North Carolina.

American Girl Doll loved the idea so much, they partnered to create, “Anna the Appalachian”

THIS IS AMERICA!!! pic.twitter.com/pmbDSNK3a9

— Matt Van Swol (@matt_vanswol) March 31, 2025