From a story by Nancy Caggia

Cary, NC – Sometimes, a stuffed animal can be your best friend. Especially if you’re a child in an emergency situation.

Project My Pal is a service initiative of MacNair’s 4H Club in Raleigh. About 2,000 stuffed animals will have a new life comforting children in emergencies as part of the project.

FIFTY TRASH BAGS FULL OF TOYS

Club members collected new and gently used stuffed animals to be given to comfort children in emergencies.   The members of the 4H club collected donations from their schools, communities and neighborhoods.

The Davis Drive Middle School Junior Beta Club sponsored Project My Pal and collected over 600 animals.  The 4H club spent countless hours ‘grooming’ the plush toys and individually bagging each item.  4H members collected over fifty 30-gallon trash bags filled with stuffed animals.

SHERIFF DONNIE LIKES STUFFED ANIMALS

Last week, many local emergency groups received these supplies including Sheriff Donnie Harrison, Wake Sheriff Department Fire Chief Alan Cain, Cary Fire Department and Garner and Apex EMS squads.

When presented with the stuffed animals, Sheriff Harrison said he “requires each of his cars to have a few stuffed animals ready to give away to comfort a child, so they don’t look like the bad guys when they are trying to help in an emergency situation.”

Wake Fire Chief Alan Cain thanks 4H officers: Muriel Coughlin, Kara Wilcox, Laura Barkley and Ruth Huggins. Photo by Nancy Caggia.

Fire Chief Alan Cain explained that years ago, a Girl Scout earning her Gold Award delivered similar stuffed animals and it was “quite comical to see fire trucks racing down the road with stuffed animals on the dashboard or stuffed in tight spots.”  He was quite happy to take eight huge bags to replenish his empty supply areas.

Apex’s EMS Supervisor Travis Drake said that “it was amazing how a stuffed animal can not only calm a child down, but the mother or father on the side with nothing to do.  Having them animate the stuffed animal and distract the child allows the emergency response workers to perform their necessary tasks without time consuming interruptions in often crucial situations.”

As storage space is often limited as some of the locations of the emergency agencies, Garner’s EMS Division Chief, Vance Haywood has graciously offered to distribute these stuffed animals to more children in emergency situations at local Hospitals.  Cary Chief Steven Cohen had already taken Project My Pal toys to the orphanage hospital where he is now working in Haiti.

Each of these donated stuffed animals will surely find themselves cheering up a child in need of a friend.

Lindsey Chester & Hal Goodtree also contributed to this article.