Getting Something in Return

Posted by Gabe on April 15, 2010 under Kids are Heroes | 5 Comments to Read

Usually we speak of “giving back” or giving up something and wishing for nothing in return.  Sometimes though it is really nice to get something in return for what we do.  We are certainly not interested in cash or anything of monetary value, because this kind of thing pales in comparison to other things we get back anyway.  I would like to share an email with you from a lieutenant in the Philadelphia Police Department.

Before I do that, let me clue the readers in who haven’t heard about our recent event at Boyd’s Bear Country in Gettysburg, PA. On Saturday, April 10, we hosted a Bear Drive where children made bears to donate to deserving children.  They stuffed them with different colored beads, each color representing a certain emotion or trait such as laughter and bravery.  They carefully selected their bear and dressed them in their favorite clothes. They named the bears and even drew pictures and wrote letters to the children who would receive them.  The bears were destined for one of four places: Johns Hopkins Children’s Center in Baltimore, Children’s Medical Center in Washington DC, Bears On Patrol and the Nyaka School for Orphans in Uganda.  They were all shipped out this past Monday.

Bears on Patrol is an organization we recently partnered with that supplies bears to police departments.  The idea is that police officers donate the bears to kids who find themselves in difficult situations.  We ended up donating a total of 140 bears on Saturday, and 32 of them went to the Philadelphia Police Department on behalf of Bears on Patrol.  Now back to the email. Lieutenant Patrick Quinn of the Philadelphia Police sent us this message today:

Mr. O’Neill,

My name is Patrick Quinn I am a Lieutenant with the Philadelphia Police Department. Recently we received 32 bears donated by your daughter and her friends through bearsonpatrol.org (Blake Raab). As I write this e-mail one bear is going to a child who recently had his father killed by violence in Philadelphia and yesterday 04-14-2010 ( the day we got them) two other bears were given to a couple girls in a similar situation.

Please express my sincere gratitude to your daughter for her compassionate gesture and efforts. The bears that have been donated to The Philadelphia Police Department will be given to children who are either victims of crimes or children of crime victims. Currently our homicide unit and special victims unit’s will be passing these bears onto children who have had an extremely traumatic experience in their lives and i’m sure they will love and cherish the gift your daughter has provided through her efforts.

Thank you MaryMargaret O’Neill.

I will periodically update you and thanks again.

Patrick Quinn
Lieutenant
Philadelphia Police Department

This is the kind of “return gift” that is priceless to us.
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  • Blake Raab said,

    Gabe,

    It has been an honor partnering with you. I think I’m still in stunned amazement with the emails you and I have received about this project. We are a new organization, so this has been the biggest project we’ve had so far. Many of us, myself included, know that it’s a good thing getting these bears into the hands of police officers to give to children, but stories like these from Philly really solidify in my mind that we need to be doing this, and that the impact is immeasurable. Thank you again for taking the time to connect with me by phone that day and starting what I know will continue to be a great partnership.

  • Gabe said,

    Thanks Blake,

    The way I see it, as long as we have a partnership with Boyd’s Bear Country, we are just getting started. I told him next time maybe MaryMargaret will deliver them in person. :)

  • Teresa Mena said,

    My 6yo chose to send his bear to Bears on Patrol and I am so proud of him for making that decision. May these children find peace and comfort in their time of need!

  • Gabe said,

    Thanks Teresa,
    I agree that this is a great charity. We hope we can convince your 6-year-old to come back on June 26th and do it again for them. :)

  • Blake Raab said,

    Teresa, thank you and your son for donating your bear to our cause. As you can see from the letter, these bears are going to children in very traumatic situations. I hope that our partnership with Kids Are Heroes and these letters will show people that there is a real need and that a simple gesture can make a very difficult time just a little bit easier for a child who needs a bear hug. :)

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