Beginnings
That first responders – law enforcement agencies and fire departments – like teddy bears is well-known. Not so much for themselves as for the small victims of traumatic events they encounter – children in car accidents, fires, domestic violence – bears who can serve as friends and confidants for the children as they seek to find new order in their mixed up world.
Many police, fire and sheriff’s departments have drives to encourage residents in their communities to donate new teddy bears to the departments. That’s because tight budgets generally don’t allow for the departments to purchase the bears themselves.
The Blair, Nebraska, police department is no different than many others across the U.S. They need teddy bears, ready to hand out when needed.
It was early March 2019. Enter Blair resident Tim Welch and Blair Police Department chaplain Amy Krejcarek (see photo). They came up with the idea of starting a Teddy Bear Project almost simultaneously. Tim called the Blair police department and talked to Capt. Aaron Barrow one evening with the idea; Amy talked with Capt. Barrow the next morning about something very similar. Capt. Barrow put the two in contact with each other and the results have been amazing.
For Tim and Amy such a project was a natural outreach for them, in large part because of their life experiences; they also wanted to give back to their community. Amy is a police chaplain who’s seen a lot of traumatized kids who needed reassurance and comfort. Tim belongs to The Bridge, an organization dedicated to helping children in abused and domestic violence cases. Tim also had a really bad accident as a child where he was run over by a train and lost an arm and a leg. So he knows firsthand about trauma and how a furry teddy bear can help a situation.
Mission
Their mission was to get donations of teddy bears from charitable organizations and members of the community. They’ve already received 100 teddies. 50 of the bears came from an organization called Barrans Bears, Inc. Founded in 2016 by Deputy Turner Barran of Jefferson Parish, Louisiana, Barrans Bears’ mission is to help kids see that the police and first responders are their friends. Barrans Bears started off with a single teddy bear and grew until Deputy Barran was able to provide teddies to his entire squad to keep in their patrol cars and soon to the entire Jefferson Parish’s Police Department.
Barrans Bears now helps other police departments get a start with their teddy bear projects. They not only donated the 50 bears to the Blair Police Department, they also put the department’s logo on the shirts the bears wear. Tom and Amy knew they would need more bears, so started look for donations from the community.
Then their story broke in a March 8th story in the Washington County Pilot-Tribute paper headquartered in Blair. The article featured a picture of Amy and Tim (in photo) and carried the story of their new Teddy Bear Project. After the story was published, their phones rang off the hook with people inquiring about the project and how they could donate teddy bears to it.
And so the teddy bears will continue to help make bad situations better for traumatized kids. Teddies also help build trust between the police and the child. After all, it’s hard for a child who has been hurt in an accident or, even worse, been in a domestic violence situation and have just seen the police take their mother and father away.
This is when teddy bears shine—they help kids feel safe. And they actually belong to the kids, who are sometimes left with nothing else with which to start rebuilding their lives.
The Blair Teddy Bear Project has so far donated teddies to the Blair police and fire departments and to The Bridge; they also plan to give some to the Washington County’s Sheriff Department. The Blair Teddy Bear Project is accomplishing its mission to serve its community with a child’s best friend – a teddy bear.
(photo courtesy of Leeanna Ellis, Washington County Pilot-Tribute)