DOLLS WORK THEIR MAGIC.

Byline: DENNIS McCARTHY 

The smile on 5-year-old Jacob Cleeland's face as he rides his brand-new, special $3,500 tricycle tells the story, the group says.

Tells you why the women who call their group the DOLLS -- Dedicating Our Loyal, Loving Service -- have been anonymously working their magic behind the scenes in the San Fernando Valley for 25 years now.

From spending $1,500 for wheelchair access and handrails in the bathroom and shower of a young man paralyzed from the waist down in an auto accident, to paying $600 for the burial of an indigent woman destined for a pauper's grave.

From a few hundred dollars to pay the car insurance of a cancer victim for a few months, to $3,500 for the special tricycle to bring some pride and joy to a boy with special needs.

``Jacob does not sit, speak or walk, but he can ride his trike for about 15 feet now all by himself,'' Jacob's mom, Julie Cleeland, told the DOLLS in a thank-you note for the tricycle.

When I talked with Jacob's mom on Monday, she said she ``bawled like a baby when it arrived.''

``My son's so proud,'' she said. ``He can ride down the street, just like the other kids, instead of being pushed in his wheelchair. Those women touched my family's lives deeply, and we are so very grateful.''

Quietly and without fanfare, the DOLLS -- most of them senior citizens -- have touched hundreds of lives in the Valley. The public might not know these women. But ask any social worker, physical therapist or hospital rehab nurse about them, and you'll get a smile and a story.

It was physical therapist Zorine Hall who called the DOLLS earlier this year and told them about Jacob -- this little boy with some pretty severe disabilities who could really benefit from having that special tricycle.

The family's insurance didn't cover therapeutic items like that, and the Cleelands didn't have the funds -- not after all the medical costs they'd already paid.

``Like always, the DOLLS came through,'' Hall said. ``It's always anonymously. They don't want a pat on the back. They do it from the love in their hearts.''

Over at the Northeast Senior Community Center in North Hollywood, director Lori Litel says the same thing, calling the DOLLS her center's ``emergency angels.''

``When there's a need no one else can fill quickly, they fill it. There's no red tape. It's usually one phone call.''

This summer, when temperatures climbed above 100 degrees for three solid weeks, the DOLLS bought three air-conditioning units -- at $300 each -- for low-income seniors at the center whose apartments were sweltering.

``They've come to our rescue so many times,'' wrote Suzanne Schultz and Mindy Elkabetz, rehab social workers for the Center for Rehabilitation at Northridge Hospital Medical Center.

``Usually our patients have limited equipment coverage. When we know they need or could benefit from something not covered, we turn to the DOLLS. They've never let us down.''

So who are these DOLLS?

``There were 17 of us who broke away from volunteering at other charitable groups 25 years ago because too much of the money being raised was going into overhead and not to the people it was supposed to help,'' said Grace Coveney, a past president of DOLLS.

The DOLLS have no office or paid staff. They meet once a month in a restaurant for lunch, and they usually rubber-stamp whatever project Betty Whitehead brings before them.

When she joined the group 23 years ago, Whitehead became immediate-needs director, going from hospital to hospital and visiting every senior center in the Valley to let social workers and therapists know there were some new DOLLS in town wanting to help them.

``We deal only with social workers, hospitals and senior care workers, never directly with patients or seniors themselves,'' she said.

Right now, the DOLLS are installing a portable ramp for a homebound, disabled senior and paying for the dental work of a Holocaust survivor.

From a high of 86 members in the late 1980s, the DOLLS are down to about 40 members now -- and that's on a good day, Whitehead said.

``People are dying, Honey, or going into a home,'' she said. ``We need new blood to continue to help people.''

So, it's time for the DOLLS to come out from behind the scenes and to let people know who they are and what they've been doing.

If you'd be interested in joining the DOLLS or helping this great group of women with a donation, so they can continue to help people in need on a one-time basis, give Whitehead a call at [phone].

dennis.mccarthy(at)dailynews.com

[phone]

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Jacob Cleeland, 5, tries out his special tricycle. ``He can ride down the street, just like the other kids, instead of being pushed in his wheelchair,'' his mom, Julie Cleeland, wrote.