Stuffed animals such as these seen Saturday afternoon, Aug. 12, outside Minikins on Broadway in Farmington are needed for a new community service project. Organizers hope the toys will help local agencies dealing with children and others in tragic/sad situations. Pam Harnden/Livermore Falls Advertiser
WILTON — Karen McCall Williams is seeking donations of stuffed animals for a new community service project, the goal of which is to deliver the toys to area agencies on Sept. 11.
Last week the Livermore Falls Advertiser saw a post by Williams on the You Know You’re from Weld, Maine if… Facebook page stating, “Hello fellow Franklin County residents. I am in search of donations of stuffies [stuffed animals] for a community project I’m working on. These will go to our local fire departments, law enforcement, NorthStar etc.
“They will be used to calm children in tragic/sad situations. If you have any new or gently used [washed if possible] you’d like to donate, please contact me. Also looking for volunteers for this and maybe future projects. I’m hoping to distribute on 9/11. I can accept donations until Aug. 18th and again Sept 1st to the 10th. Thank you! Communities helping neighbors!”
A similar post was seen Thursday, Aug. 10, on the Farmington, Maine Area: News & Community page. Williams was contacted to obtain more information.
“This isn’t about me,” she said during a call later that night. “It’s something I have wanted to do, make it a community thing.
“9/11 is a poetic day, a day in our country’s history. I think that would be a good day to reach out, deliver them then.”
Williams said she has received several donations already, people have reached out to her to see how they can help. Williams plans to contact law enforcement agencies, fire departments, NorthStar, and other places that have been suggested to her.
Volunteers are also needed to sort/store stuffies, Williams stated.
Children were specified as recipients in the posts, but agencies such as LEAP, Inc. and others could also use the stuffies, Williams noted.
LEAP supports people with developmental, cognitive and intellectual disabilities, according to its website.
Williams’ brother was a police officer. Her son is a deputy who has seen instances when he could have used a stuffie.
Recently, a local emergency medical technician was at an accident scene where a young child was carried around to try to calm it down, Williams noted. “A stuffie or something like that would have been a great benefit,” she stated.
Williams got the idea for the stuffie project from Florida. “Police there give out things to children at Christmas as an outreach,” she noted.
Williams sees the stuffie project as the first of many. “A couple of us have talked about doing other projects, putting our ideas together,” she noted. “We want to keep this going, come up with a name. There are all kinds of situations police, community groups are dealing with we don’t know about.”
On Friday, Williams notified the paper she has formed the Facebook group Franklin County Community Cares: communities coming together to help promote kindness and sharing where needed through community projects.
“We would like to invite local businesses and organizations to join our project either as donors in any way they can or as recipients of our projects,” Williams wrote in a message to the paper Monday morning. “Some of our needs are: storage space, space for the group to meet/work on this and future projects, Ziplock storage bags for washed/sanitized items etc.
“So far the amount of stuffies I have probably wouldn’t fit in my little car! But I discovered there are 28 Fire Departments alone in Franklin County! That number doesn’t even include police departments, Sheriff Department, ambulances, etc!”
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