Coastal Bend family and friends, you did it again!
On October 13, KRIS 6 introduced you to John Navar, a Flour Bluff man who launched a campaign to collect the new Type 1 Diabetes (T1D) Barbie for young patients at Driscoll Children's Hospital.
The doll comes complete with an insulin pump and glucose monitor.
Navar's wife, Cheryl, is a pediatric diabetic educator at Driscoll Children's Hospital and thought the new Barbie would be perfect to help her patients, especially with World Diabetes Day just around the corner, Nov. 14.
Immediately, John went on social media to ask for donations, and the Coastal Bend and several foundations stepped up, donating more than $15,000.
On Tuesday afternoon, Cheryl and John donated their first 100 T1D Barbies to Driscoll Children's Hospital.
As they were leaving, a 3-year-old who had just been diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes received one.
"Seeing the overwhelming look of joy on her face. At three years old, she just sat staring at this doll for like five minutes as we watched. I just got to sit there and watch her just revel at the beauty of this Barbie doll that has the same thing on her as she does," Navar said.
That's what we've been going for.
"If everything fizzles out at this point and I don't raise any more Barbies, and the fact that there are 1,300 other little kiddos just like that little girl, who will get to experience that. God has worked a miracle here," Navar added.
The Navar family plans to deliver Barbies to patients at Driscoll Children's Hospital in Edinburg, TX. There's also a major foundation, whose name could not be disclosed, that will donate 100 dollars to the Texas Children's Hospital in Houston.
Navar is also in contact with the Cook's Hospital in Fort Worth to give Barbies to young patients there.
That's not all. A distributor got a hold of Mattel for Navar, and Mattel is going to let him buy $9,000 worth of Barbie dolls. That order will be placed on Tuesday.
"What I know for a fact is that there is going to be at least 1,300 girls just like we saw that are going to get to have a little bit of joy on that little terrible day of theirs," Navar said.
Initially, the Navar family planned to raise enough money to supply dolls for the children at Driscoll Children's Hospital. Still, with the help of locals and other foundations, they surpassed their goal.
"The Lord keeps opening a lot of doors for us, the more we keep doing this," Navar added, "I think that he's backing us big time on this."
Navar said it's all about people helping people.
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