Dollhouse Project Appreciates Health Care Workers

By Jeff Donnelly

Much praise has been heaped on health care workers – people who have reported for duty day after day, month after month throughout the pandemic. For the residents of Westminster Suncoast, a senior living community in Pinellas Point, expressing their gratitude called for some creative thinking, artistic collaboration and some goodold-fashioned elbow grease.

A team has been hard at work for weeks sawing plywood and pleating curtains as they construct a six-foot dollhouse from scratch. When its three stories and six fully-furnished rooms are finished, the piece will be raffled off to raise funds for the Suncoast Health Center Employee Appreciation Fund.

“Our health care employees are downright heroes in our book,” says Candy Porter, chair of the Suncoast Residents Association. “Since we cannot produce our annual Arts & Crafts Fair this year, we felt the Dollhouse Project was a great way to use our collective creative talents and bolster the employee appreciation fund at the same time.”

The final product will be a child’s dream dollhouse, but the building process is anything but playtime. An assortment of resident creative teams is meticulously working their way through the miniature spaces, including living and dining rooms, master and children’s bedrooms, a playroom, an office/guest room, and even an exterior entry and garden. At the helm of the operation is Ann Queen, team leader for the Suncoast Dollhouse Project.

Money raised by the project will go to the Suncoast Health Center employees in early November as a “thank you” gift from the residents of the three St. Petersburg Westminster Retirement Communities.

People will have a chances to win the dollhouse September 1 through October 31. No purchase is necessary, but suggested donations are $5 per chance and $20 for five chances. Westminster Suncoast will hold the prize drawing at noon on Saturday, November 1.

For more information, email to dollhouse1095@gmail. com or call 727-864-7384.

Team Leader for the Suncoast Dollhouse Project, Ann Queen, oversees teams of residents who construct a six-foot, three story dollhouse to raise money for Suncoast Health Center.

Candy Porter