JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A local man spread his personal mission of selflessness and generosity as he donated handmade dollhouse to the Northeast Florida Community Hospice in Mandarin Friday morning.
Brendan Hoffman is from Nocatee and has been giving his time and talent in handmaking dollhouses every year since his daughter passed away.
Hoffman's collection of dollhouses are displayed at the hospice and then will be given to children served through its Community PedsCare Program.
"It's just so exciting because the families, the girls, the boys, the children, the siblings," Community PedsCare Director Terry Eason said. "They get so excited to see these coming into their home and then they've got something that they can play with all year long."
Hoffman said he started building the dollhouses July 5 and worked on them about 10 to 12 hours a day.
Building the miniature homes has been Hoffman's mission for six years. He does it in honor of his late daughter who asked him to do it while she was in hospice.
Hoffman's daughter helped him realize he could make a difference in building these dollhouses for children in the community.
Curt Rogers, a neighbor of Hoffman's and the CEO of a Brillium Software Company, offered to step in and help Hoffman build the miniature houses this year.
"At first I was hesitant and then I got to thinking, that's being selfish," Hoffman said.
Hoffman realized the more help he had, the more children he could help.
"It's an infectious enthusiasm that (Hoffman) has about this and when he started to tell me what he did with the houses and how they were distributed and the kids they would ultimately go to, it was awesome," Rogers said. "We didn't hesitate to get involved. We couldn't help it."