At any one time, more than 250,000 children have at least one parent deployed overseas. Having a parent deployed to a war zone for an uncertain amount of time is among the most stressful events a child can experience.

Operation Give a Hug is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization established in 2004 to help comfort military children by giving them special dolls, often referred to by children as their daddy or mommy doll. Read Maddie's story to learn about the important role this doll played in her young life. Each doll provides a place to put the photo of the deployed parent and gives a child a tangible way of relating to that parent.

The goal of Operation Give a Hug is to give dolls to military children throughout the world who are missing Mom or Dad during the long deployments.