Windermere mother-daughter duo runs stuffed-animal drive for Valentine's Day

WINDERMERE  Valentine’s Day is all about celebrating love — often with chocolates, flowers and candy hearts — but Angela Kuhn and daughter Callie have come up with a different way to show love for others this year.

The mother-daughter duo, who live in Windermere, decided to organize a stuffed animal collection to donate to the Florida Baptist Children’s Home in Lakeland.

Angela Kuhn wanted to teach 3-year-old Callie about giving back to others and spreading kindness, and the idea for their Right Heart Project actually came from Callie’s birthmark. 

“Callie has a heart-shaped birthmark on the back of her right arm,” Kuhn said. “For the past two years I thought, ‘I’m gonna do something (cool) about that one day.’ That’s where I got the name Right Heart Project from. … I wanted something (a project) for her to have and call her own about giving back and spreading kindness, paying it forward and all those wonderful things that are needed in our society.

“It started for me as a simple idea,” she said. “I love simple things in life and wanted to do something that she could relate to that would be easy for her to help me with, so we thought of stuffed animals. It felt right. It’s about love and providing some extra love for some kids who don’t necessarily have love around the holidays or throughout the year. That’s where we came up with donating the animals to Florida Baptist Children’s Home.”

The collection began Jan. 14 and runs through Feb. 14. Their original goal was to collect 40 stuffed animals to donate to FBCH, but word has spread so fast that they currently have about 250 new and gently loved stuffed animals ready to donate.

“Because we have so many animals, we’re probably going have to take two cars or something (to deliver them),” Kuhn said. “They’re piling up and people have been so generous and kind of blowing my mind, because bags and bags have been dropped off. People are doing way more than I expected.”

What started as an informal and simple act of kindness has turned into a mobilization of the community to reach out to kids in need and let them know they are loved. Kuhn said she grew up in a household where she was taught to be more of a giver than receiver, and it’s something that sticks with her and her family now. 

It’s also been a great teaching moment for Callie. Kuhn said her daughter has been receptive to the idea, and although she loves the stuffed animals that come into the house, she has no problem putting them back in the pile instead of running off with them.

“There’s some really cute ones and some of her favorite characters,” Kuhn said. “It’s a variety of holiday stuffed animals, and some new with tags. It’s a really cool collection. It’s been exciting to (watch) her get excited to see what someone’s dropped off, through a 3-year-old’s eyes. … Sometimes we forget we have so many amazing people in this area and it brings out the good in people. Those little things that we do add up, and I really just want Callie to learn that and be that kind of person.”

The Kuhns will deliver the stuffed animals to FBCH the week after Valentine’s Day.

“Whatever these kids are going through, we hope we can kind of touch their lives in some way,” Kuhn said. “She’s (Callie’s) finally at an age where I can start doing things like this with her, and it’s fun as a mom to be able to do that.”