After flooding devasted central Texas in July, a North Jersey rotary club went to work bringing comfort to children affected by the storms.
Their solution: hundreds of huggable teddy bears donated by the local community.
The Fair Lawn Sunrise Rotary Club came up with the idea not long after the deadly floods struck. Club members reached out to the Rotary Club of Kerrville, one of the hardest-hit areas. Their fellow Rotarians “loved the idea,” said Forrest Elliott, a member of the Sunrise Club who helped organize the effort.
Traci Dunn, membership manager at the Kerrville Kroc Center in Texas, poses with the first batch of teddy bears donated by the Fair Lawn Sunrise Rotary Club. The bears have gone to children in the community affected by July’s devastating floods.
The club put out the call to its members and the local community, who dropped off dozens of donations.
“This is an important project for us, especially for the kids down there,” Elliott said.
Moisture from Tropical Storm Barry drifted over Texas in the first few days of July, colliding with an upper-level low pressure system that unleashed torrential rains, said Bob Fogarty, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service Austin/San Antonio office. On July 4, the height of the Guadalupe River at Kerrville surged from less than 12 inches to more than 34 feet, a modern record.
“I can’t imagine what it was like living like that,” said Elliott. “Those floods kept coming.”
As of mid-July, the death toll from flooding in Texas stood at 135, with 116 from Kerr County. At least 27 of these deaths were campers and counselors from an all-girls summer camp called Camp Mystic.
As of Aug. 15, the Fair Lawn club had sent over 200 teddy bears to the Kerrville community. Elliott has been sending the bears in batches, about 15 to a box. The club recently sent three boxes of school supplies as well.
“It’s important because families are hurting,” said Elliott. “The effect this has on the children and losing everything, we thought we could give them a little comfort. Teddy bears usually bring comfort to children.”
The Rotary Club of Kerrville has partnered with the Kerrville Kroc Center, a community center run by the Salvation Army, to distribute the stuffed animals to local children, said Ashley Phillips, director of development at the Kroc Center and membership chair for the local Rotary.
The Kroc Center gave away some of the bears in mid-July, through connections with schools throughout Kerr County, said Phillips. It plans to partner with Hunt Independent School District, a pre-K to eighth grade district in Texas, for a fall carnival fundraiser where more of the bears will be handed out, she said.
Phillips said the group is keeping some of the remaining teddy bears for when rebuilding efforts slow down and children may start feeling more grief.
“Things are going to quiet down and that’s usually when trauma can resurface and individuals can backslide or relapse,” she said. “We’re trying to think long term about relief and emotional support.”
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Phillips was grateful not only to Fair Lawn, more than 1,500 miles to the northeast, but for all the support Kerr County has received from around the world since the floods. She encouraged people who want to help to have local community groups connect with the Rotary Club of Kerrville to see what is needed, as this can change day by day.
Her neighbors welcome “the feeling of love and support, seeing all kinds of things come from places we’ve never heard of. We think things like ‘Fair Lawn, NJ is thinking of us’ and that feels good,” Phillips said. “That’s helping us to get through this because this is the biggest, most tragic thing I have ever experienced in my life.”
The Fair Lawn Sunrise Rotary isn’t done with its teddy bear brigade. Those interested in contributing to the cause can do so in two ways: They can buy an animal through the club’s Amazon wishlist that will go directly to Texas, or they can reach out to Elliott at woody2me@aol.com to arrange for a local pickup in New Jersey.
“If people still want to donate, we’ll ship them,” said Elliott. He picked up 30 more bears just days ago.
This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: NJ Rotary Club teddy bears help Texas kids after deadly floods
