A Lost Baby Doll Is Found at Goodwill in a Sweet ‘Needle in a Haystack’ Story

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A lost baby doll is found at Goodwill in a sweet ‘needle in a haystack’ story. Normally, when something accidentally disappears into a donation box, you assume it’s gone for good. But every once in a while, a story comes along that makes you wonder if some things aren’t meant to stay lost. Because finding one little doll among hundreds of boxes and thousands of donated belongings? The odds had to feel nearly impossible.

Sentimental Baby Doll Is Accidentally Donated

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That was the case for Anna Simons of Virginia, whose husband had accidentally donated a baby doll to a Goodwill store in Chesapeake. And this wasn’t a doll that could simply be replaced with another one from a store shelf. Anna had grown up holding this baby doll herself, and now it wore the tiny onesie Anna’s own daughter had worn during her time in the NICU. Suddenly, finding this little doll meant recovering pieces of two childhoods at once.

Anna’s own childhood and one tiny piece of her daughter’s earliest, most fragile days were wrapped up in a baby doll that had disappeared somewhere among a mountain of donations. Finding it would be like searching for a needle in a haystack, except the haystack was a Goodwill warehouse and the needle was one beloved doll. Still, Anna tried to keep her hopes and the loss in perspective. “While it’s sentimental to me, it’s a thing,” Anna said. “It is stuff.”

What Anna didn’t know yet was that somewhere inside that enormous warehouse, against almost unbelievable odds, her little doll was waiting to be found.

Goodwill Staff Find the Doll in Just 90 Minutes

Anna put out a plea for help online, and when Goodwill leadership heard her story, employees decided to try. There was only one little problem: they were staring at a warehouse containing more than 800 large boxes of donations. Many thought finding one little doll among all of it would be impossible.

Goodwill Vice President of Donated Goods Operations Matthew Stegall and his team thought differently. “We just had a feeling,” Matthew said. So they started digging, and just 90 minutes later, they opened the eighth box and found the doll.

Anna arrived later carrying boxes of doughnuts for the employees who had searched for something precious simply because it mattered to a stranger. “Thank you so much, oh my gosh, thank you guys,” Anna said. “My daughter is so excited too.”

One Small Act of Kindness Makes a Big Difference

Then came one more kindness: a Goodwill employee had found the rescued doll a stroller. “It’s perfect,” Anna said. Hundreds of boxes said the odds weren’t good, but a moment of human kindness said, “Let’s look anyway.”

Because what looks like an old doll to one person may hold an entire chapter of someone else’s life. And sometimes loving our neighbors looks like caring about what matters to them, even when it means digging through a warehouse to find it.

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“Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.” Ephesians 4:32 

WATCH: A Lost Baby Doll Is Found at Goodwill in a Sweet ‘Needle in a Haystack’ Story

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Heather Riggleman is a believer, wife, mom, author, social media consultant, and full-time writer. She lives in Minden, Nebraska with her kids, high school sweetheart, and three cats who are her entourage around the homestead. She is a former award-winning journalist with over 2,000 articles published. She is full of grace and grit, raw honesty, and truly believes tacos can solve just about any situation. You can find her on GodUpdates, iBelieve, Crosswalk, Hello Darling, Focus On The Family, and in Brio Magazine. Connect with her at www.HeatherRiggleman.com or on Facebook.