Beginnings
Many grieve when a police officer dies suddenly in the line of duty. Perhaps few grieve as deeply as the officer’s family. Children, especially, seem to have difficulty dealing with and expressing loss. Many are too young to really comprehend what has happened, except the parent is no longer around. The loss is made even more poignant because of the current negative attitude many Americans have toward law enforcement officers.
One Florida teenager is trying to remedy the situation. Teddy bears are often given to traumatized children by first responders; why not to children of deceased first responders? And especially if it could be special, something to remember the parent by.
Meet Megan. She realizes the dangers inherent with being a police officer; her father is one. But the impact of losing a parent really hit home to her in 2016 after learning of the deaths of five police officers in Dallas, Texas. And she decided to do something about it.
So she started a program called Blue Line Bears.
Blue Line Bears is a non-profit organization completely funded by donations, contributions and sales of Blue Line Bears t-shirts and other items. The funds are used to buy the materials from which the teddy bears are made; there is no expense to the family, including shipping.
Bears are born here
Megan started out making all the bears by herself; the project has grown so much that she now has friends who help with the bears, especially the stuffing.
She first makes contact with the officer’s department and requests one of his uniform shirts (after having the collar and one patch removed to prevent fraudulent use of the uniform). Once she receives the shirt, she uses it to make a personalized bear, sewing a badge with the officer’s last name and badge number on the bear’s chest. If the officer had a rank, she sews the stripes or other indications of rank on the bear’s arms. The officer’s department patch is sewn on the bear’s back.
The bear is then blessed by a priest, given a St. Michael’s medal, and sent to the officer’s family. In some cases, such as in New York City and Washington, D.C., Megan has delivered some bears herself and met the families, no doubt an emotional visit.
The family now has something very tangible to remember their loved one by. This is especially important for the children. The Blue Line Bear often serves as comforter-in-chief, just as do the teddy bears handed out to other traumatized children—to help them through a tough time in their lives.
Jet-Setter Bears
Megan has made a lot of bears, and the number keeps growing as more police officers, tragically, are killed. As of the last update of the Blue Lines Bears’ website, 454 bears have been made and delivered to officers’ families in 36 states; one was even sent to Canada.
(Note: Photos used with permission of Blue Line Bears)