GARDNER — Members of the Gardner Fire Department played the role of Santa Claus and delivered hundreds of teddy bears to the staff at the UMass Pediatric Intensive Care Unit in Worcester.
The department collected more than 400 donated stuffed toy animals during its third annual teddy bear drive this year.
"This will enable the PICU nurses to be able to give stuffed animals to the sick children in their unit for many months to come, and hopefully make their stay a little brighter," said Lt. Eric Hulette, who organized the drive.
The department has always kept stuffed animals in their vehicles to hand out to distressed children to help keep them calm during emergency situations, according to Hulette, but three years ago word of the practice began to spread on social media, and the department was soon inundated with donated teddy bears. That's when it was decided the department would host an annual drive, with the UMass PICU staff as the beneficiary.
The drive was an immediate success, with more than 300 donated toys collected during last year's event. Hulette said even more were collected this year and that organizers lost count after 400 toys.
The stuffed animals collected this year were delivered by Hulette and firefighter Matt Moniz on Dec. 23. Hulette said they wanted to get the toys to the hospital in time for any children who would be staying in the unit over the holidays. It took 14 bags to transport all of the toys to the hospital, Hulette said.
"It took five of their staff members to help us bring them all upstairs," he added.
In addition to old-fashioned teddy bears, the donated toys included a large Winnie the Pooh, stuffed dinosaurs, Olaf the Snowman, unicorns, lions and monkeys. Hulette said a plush animal toy can make a world of difference to a frightened child staying overnight in the hospital.
In a touching gesture, a former pediatric patient who had been a recipient of one of the department's teddy bears showed up to "pay it forward," according to Hulette, and donated a new toy to the unit.
Hulette said his department is grateful that so many residents decided to pitch in and help out for such a worthy cause. He said that anyone who stopped by to drop off a toy in the department's donation box was invited to take a tour of the station.
"Once again we were humbled and amazed at the outpouring of support and donations we received," Hulette said. "And we will be holding another teddy bear drive next year."
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