By Sherri Ackerman / The Tampa Tribune

Even with her father in Iraq, 2 1/2-year-old Keirah Nelson wakes to his voice each morning.

“Keirah, this is Daddy,” Army Spect. Scott Nelson singsongs from a recording inside a cotton doll adorned with his picture. “I love you very much. Have a good day.”

The custom-made Daddy Doll helps children like Keirah cope with the loss of a loved one away from home or never coming back.

“It’s been a godsend,” said Keirah’s mother, Sarah, whose family is weathering her husband’s first deployment overseas.

They didn’t know what to expect from Keirah and her 19-month-old brother, Kyler. One might suffer from separation anxiety; the other might not recognize his dad. To be able to click here and get them some memorabilia wasn’t enough. So far, with dolls tucked beneath little arms each night, the siblings have been fine, their mom said.

The children’s day-care provider told Nelson about Operation Hug-A-Hero, a nonprofit that raises money to purchase Daddy Dolls (or Mommy Dolls) for people in need.

“We really reached out to the ones struggling the hardest,” said Executive Director Lisa Berg of Clearwater.

The dolls are co-designed by her friend, Tricia Dyal, a Marine wife based in Jacksonville, N.C. They cost $25 to $35, depending on size and extras – such as printing pictures on the doll’s back as well as the front, and recording his voice.

Photographs of loved ones can be uploaded and edited online. The machine-washable dolls are delivered in about four weeks.

“We’re in it for the kids,” said Berg, who served 16 years in the Air National Guard; her husband, Benjamin is in the Coast Guard. “They don’t know where Daddy is, just that he’s not around.”

Nelson’s children received two dolls around February. The plushy toys emblazoned with a full-length picture of their father were an immediate hit.

“Oh, my Daddy!” Keirah hollered.

A month later, Scott Nelson shipped out. Keirah took to carrying her Daddy Doll everywhere.

“She doesn’t like to leave without him,” Sarah Nelson said.

For more information about sponsoring a child or ordering a Daddy Doll, visit Operation Hug-A-Hero

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