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Sloth donation to children's hospital in memory of girl
Wild Republic will deliver a thousand pink, stuffed sloths to Children's Healthcare of Atlanta -- Scottish Rite Hospital in honor of a girl named Morgan Kaylor on Monday. Kim Leoffler reporting.
ATLANTA - Wild Republic, along with the family of Morgan Kaylor, will donate thousands of pink stuffed toy sloths to children at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta – Scottish Rite Hospital. The donation is scheduled for noon on Monday, Dec. 1, ahead of Giving Tuesday.
What we know:
The effort is in honor of Morgan, who was born with microcephaly, suffered numerous seizures and passed away in June at the age of 30. Her family says she found comfort in her pink sloth, known as Slothy, and they hope other children will find the same comfort during difficult hospital stays.
What they're saying:
"She just would hold onto his little arm or his leg and carry him and drag him around and I don’t know what it was about him she just latched onto him so much," Morgan’s mother, Mitchaleen Lanyon, said.
Earlier this year, Morgan’s family contacted Wild Republic, the company that made the original Slothy, to request a smaller version of the toy to hold her ashes and carry with them. The partnership quickly grew into something larger.
Wild Republic is now donating thousands of pink sloths to children at Scottish Rite, each with a tag sharing Morgan’s story.
"To know that parents can see this story or kids can see this story and get some type of comfort from that is pretty amazing and special," Mitchaleen said.
"And they can gain a best friend from Slothy and hopefully, that will help them deal with their time in the hospital and help give them some hope," Morgan’s father, Ken Lanyon, added.
What's next:
The donation event will take place Monday at noon.