Wisconsin Life

playful melody with whistling

Pat Hilpert collects critters. Critters she has no plans to keep. Everybody seems to like frogs. I've got lots of frogs. In her eighties, this retired nurse became a matchmaker. They're beautiful animals, and I just hate to have them thrown away when we can get more mileage out of them. Before she knew it, the idea caught on. Bringing together unwanted stuffed animals with kids in need. I've got piles of toys categorized, like frogs and elephants in one pile. And monkeys and whales and spiders in another one. They arrived two by two. And then, by the hundreds. Most of them are donated by individuals. And they will bring me bags of 'em. Maybe 50, 60 in a bag. I received a number of toys the other day. There were 40 in 3 big boxes. They've already have found their home. The Methodist Church up the block needed about 37. Many of them will go down to Plainfield to a Baptist Church down there. I think there's an order for 73 for that. And then, a special education teacher likes to have Teddy Bears just for her 32 children. If she needs more toys, I've got plenty down here. Down here is Pat's basement. Overrun by animals, her sons built shelves for her recent birthday. People will just leave a bag of animals at the door. I decided, "Well, I had better put something out on the doorstep." I made the "Giving Chest." Oh, it is so fun! You never know what it is. He's got a rip on the seam here so I'll mend that. This sewing machine is a 1950. All it does is sew backwards and forwards and that's all I need. Now he's ready for the washing machine. These are all washable. And it's surprising that they turn out so well. My washing machine just moans and groans whenever it sees another bag of toys coming down. And then, I'll push the button and it's ready to go. I'm seeing a lot of the Pound Puppies coming through now. The other day, I think I received 15 of them. But they went through the washing machine and they came out 15 clean puppies. Each animal comes with Pat's original poem. I have been a pre-loved toy by a child. We had fun being together just being wild. So let's play and start the fun. My new life with you has just begun. She hopes the poem and pets are an inspiration to read. I try to have books with every one of them. I love reading so much. If a child has something than just the toy, mom and dad will probably sit down and spend more time with them. The need seems never-ending. I do count them as they go out the door. The ones that I took today, I think that will be about 10,400. That's 10,400 donated animals and counting.

I've got a rule that

"Something that comes in one week, something has to go out the next week." Many go here. Operation Bootstrap is a phenomenal organization. Operation Bootstrap provides food and toys to those less fortunate in Portage County. This is fantastic when you think it's all volunteer work. Can you reach down in there and get them? I put out about 400 in the last three weeks. The children are very appreciative of it. Really made you feel good that they were able to get something new and it was theirs. Pat provides her time, her talents, her supplies, and the animals for free. My only criteria is that the toy will never be sold. They have to be given away. They cannot be sold for a profit. God put us on the earth to care for each other. And that's my way for the moment. It keeps me busy.