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Mattel is honoring six women who fought on the frontlines against the pandemic, as part of the company’s #ThankYouHeroes program.  

One-of-a-kind Barbie dolls will be designed in each woman’s likeness. The dolls — which will not be available for purchase by the general public — are meant to honor the six women’s courage and expertise in their field, said Mattel in a statement.  

“Barbie recognizes that all frontline workers have made tremendous sacrifices when confronting the pandemic and the challenges it heightened,” Senior Vice President of Barbie & Dolls, Mattel, Lisa McKnight said. “To shine a light on their efforts, we are sharing their stories and leveraging Barbie’s platform to inspire the next generation to take after these heroes and give back.”  

The honorees include Amy Sullivan, an emergency room nurse from Brooklyn; Audrey Sue Cruz, an Asian-American physician from Las Vegas who worked with others to combat Asian discrimination; Sarah Gilbert, a vaccinologist from Oxford University who helped develop the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine; Chika Stacy Oriuwa, a psychiatry resident from Canada who has fought against racial discrimination in healthcare; Kirby White, a general practitioner from Australia who worked to get personal protection equipment for hospital staff; and Jacqueline Goes de Jesus, a biomedical researcher from Brazil who helped sequence the genome of a COVID-19 variant identified in her home country.   

“This recognition highlights the courage, dedication, and commitment that all frontline professionals have exhibited not just in the last year and a half, but every other day,” de Jesus said.  

Additionally, Barbie will donate $5 to the First Responder’s Children Foundation for each of their doctor, nurse, and paramedic dolls sold at Target during the month of August.  

 “Thank you to Mattel and Barbie,” said President of First Responders Children’s Foundation Jillian Crane. “Mattel and Barbie showed up for First Responders Children’s Foundation at the beginning of the pandemic. With their generous donations, we gave some joy to children across the country during a very difficult and scary time. With Mattel’s financial support, we bought thousands of hotel room nights with food stipends for first responders on the frontlines.” 

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Originally Appeared Here