Woodbury Resident Creates Goodnight Shepherd Doll

Inspired by TOMS Shoes and its buy one/give one initiative, local resident Amy Schwartz  set out to give a gift of a different sort— a doll. Schwartz’s then five-year-old son wanted a comfort item to sleep with. She scoured local shops in search of a doll with a religious theme. Coming up empty handed, she turned to her friend and fellow Woodbury resident June DaCosta to craft the first prototypes of the Goodnight Shepherd doll. Schwartz insists the doll is not an idol, but a reminder. “I have heard stories of kids running to their rooms to grab their Goodnight Shepherds when they are having bad days,” she says.
    
Schwartz’s company, AJ Cross, now has the dolls manufactured in China. For every Goodnight Shepherd  doll purchased, another is donated to a deserving child; the company has given dolls locally and in Peru, Honduras, Haiti, Jamaica and Newtown, Conn. “I love that by using the purchasing power of the consumer, you can continue giving,” says Schwartz, who also hopes to donate additional items to these distant communities in the future.

Shop for the Goodnight Shepherd doll at goodnightshepherd.com or at the gift shop in St. Ambrose of Woodbury Catholic Church. 4125 Woodbury Drive; 651.768.3030.