Stuffed animals find new life comforting kids in bad circumstances

THANK YOU St. Vincent de Paul Store in Jasper for your donation of stuffed animals for troopers to give to children at critical scenes! pic.twitter.com/N7A183Y2K0

— Indiana State Police, Jasper District (@ISPJasper) October 6, 2016

Abandoned stuffed animals will find a new life providing comfort to children at critical scenes thanks to the generosity of the Jasper St. Vincent de Paul.

Linda Brosmer, an employee at the Jasper location, had a plethora of the animals needing new homes so she called her nephew, Sgt. Philip Hensley, with the Indiana State Police. She wanted to know if troopers still carried stuffed animals to give to kids at crash scenes and other incidents. They do; so Brosmer told him to come by the Jasper location to pick up a couple boxes of the comforting creatures.

“I picked them up this morning.,” Hensley said. “The significant part to this is that it is the single largest donation of stuffed animals we have ever received. They completely filled my trunk and the back seat of my car.”

Hensley plans on distributing them to troopers stationed in the Jasper Post as well as the surrounding posts. Recruits about to graduate the academy will also get some.

“At crime scenes or crashes involving children, these toys provide a tremendous amount of comfort in what, to them, can be a very scary situation,” Hensley said. “I’ve personally done it and seen the effects. It is very satisfying to see a child relaxed and calm simply because you saved the day with a teddy bear.”