Providing a cuddly bear to a child who has been traumatized or abused can be comforting and our club is gathering new bears for this purpose. Jean Mollard is leading the project in association with "Blankets and Bears" non-profit. Our goal is to gather 50 brand new Bears, 25 Blankets and $1,000 cash for professional counseling for the children who have been traumatized. Thank you to PROSPERITY BANK for stepping up as a $1,000 sponsor for the project! Rotarian's are the leadership of our community and represent great companies such as Prosperity. We appreciate everyone's help with this project
Bears and items can be dropped off at The Redlands building located at 400 N Queen Street.
Drive for funds and new stuffed bears and blankets. - Jean Mollard - Project Chair
Goal is lots of Bears plus cash for a special care project for one of their clients.
Non Profit company … Donate on their Facebook or direct to Rotary.
Providing new BLANKETS and STUFFED BEARS to children who have been traumatized or abused. We also support area organizations that serve abused children.
A recent quote on Facebook:
“Child molesters are the ones who are close to the family, a relative, family friend or one of the many professionals or volunteers that our children come in contact with every day. Someone you would never suspect and someone your child might even love or depend on.
This information was obtained from a group of child molesters who were in treatment at the Center for Behavioral Intervention.”
Though we know a blanket and/or stuffed bear or other animal is a mere bandage to a child who has endured an horrific experience, that blanket and/or stuffed animal can mean the difference between a child’s wishing to awaken in the morning or not.
The future of our community depends on the children being raised today. A new blanket or bear can have a truly profound effect for a child who has experienced something we, as adults, fail to fathom.
The Blankets & Bears are available for officials in contact with the children. The animals can be a real assist for the children. This organization works with other non profit organizations plus County and Police/Sheriff officials who assist children in all kinds of situations where they can be traumatized. Some are not abuse cases but simply parents are injured in auto accident and children are cared for by the Police and County officials until care can be given by family member. Some can be a fire where the entire family is displaced and Police/Fire Dept has access the these stuffed animals to calm the children. The more serious is when a child is the victim of child abuse and is removed from the situation. Some must suffer the trauma of officials discussing the abuse case with them.
There are related needs for which their funds are dedicated:
One of the projects already funded was the proper medical table and camera for our hospital for physical examinations by the specialty nurse we have in Palestine who is a specialist in physical abuse and rape. It is vital for any resulting criminal charges to properly document case at the time.
A project they need funded now is professional counseling for one particular 10 year girl who was molested over and over again for a long period and who is now safe awaiting the next steps in her life. The interim time between the claim and County/State health care taking over the payments is a quite a while. This period is probably one of the more important times when she should have counseling by a specialist.
Blankets & Bears organization will send the funds to the non-profit which cares for the child.
As you can expect, these are sensitive cases and our support for these unnamed and invisible children who are touched forever by the actions of adults is one of the best things we can do.
Goal:
Bears and Blankets - 50 Bears any size, 25 Blankets
Cash - $1000.
Donations can be made to Rotary: Make check payable to The Rotary Club of Palestine and mail to PO Box 612 Palestine, TX 75802
Donations can be made on their website: www.AndersonCountyBlanketsAndBears.org and press the donation button.