Canada is expected to receive thousands of Syrian refugees by the end of the year, and organizer Shirley O’Connell hopes to give an Izzy Doll to every child that comes. The Izzy Dolls have been given by Canadian soldiers, peace keepers, and health workers in places like Haiti, Afghanistan, and Africa for the last 20 years. Carol Isfeld made the dolls for her son Master Corporal Mark Isfeld while he was serving in Croatia and Kuwait. Isfeld would hand out the small wool toys to children in the war torn countries. After he was killed in 1994, in Croatia removing land mines, his mother continued his legacy. O’Connell is recruiting knitters to help out. “I’m hoping that the attention will cause a lot more knitters to be aware that these innocent children are coming into our country and they’ve been sort of bumped around from place to place, and these little dolls will bring them comfort,”
