Elberta Farmers Co-Op donates stuffed animals for traumatized children

By Jessica Vaughn / jessica@gulfcoastmedia.com
Posted 5/23/18

ELBERTA – Kristen Edwards, employee of the Elberta Farmers Co-Op, is no stranger to making donations to local police departments. A few years ago, she found herself with a large number of stuffed …

This item is available in full to subscribers.

Subscribe to continue reading. Already a subscriber? Sign in

Get the gift of local news. All subscriptions 50% off for a limited time!

You can cancel anytime.
 

Please log in to continue

Log in

Elberta Farmers Co-Op donates stuffed animals for traumatized children

Posted

ELBERTA – Kristen Edwards, employee of the Elberta Farmers Co-Op, is no stranger to making donations to local police departments. A few years ago, she found herself with a large number of stuffed animals that she was looking to get rid of, when her mom told her to check with the local police departments. She learned that the departments would collect stuffed animals that officers could then hand out to young children who they came across during daily situations, children who may not know what is going on and who may be left traumatized. Edwards checked with the Elberta Police Department and found that they still accepted donations, and Edwards took two full bags to drop them off at the station.

“When I started working here at the Elberta Co-Op, I figured why not create foot traffic for the company and help the community at the same time,” said Edwards. “My first idea was doing this for all first responders in Baldwin County, but that was a very broad thing, so I decided to just do the police officers. Wherever a police officer is, there’s other first responders too.”

She took her idea to Co-Op Garden Center Supervisor Deena McMullen and General Manager William Carlew, who both accepted it immediately and gave Edwards full control of the project.

“The Co-Op loved it when I approached them about this,” said Edwards. “There was no controversy about it at all.”

Edwards then contacted all the police stations in Baldwin County, but found that many of them already had too many stuffed animals that the community had brought in to them. Daphne Police Department and Elberta Police Department, however, were running low.

“That’s why we only had two departments able to participate this time,” said Edwards. “A lot of the departments said to keep them in mind though for if we do this again.”

The program went on for one month, from April 14 to May 14, during which Edwards put up flyers on all Co-Op entrances and at the Elberta Dollar General, explaining what they were trying to do. She placed a box in the Garden Department where people were able to leave new or lightly-used stuffed animals, and as the word got out, the box got fuller.

“I loved doing this, it worked out really well,” said Edwards. “I’m very proud of our community, of how they helped out. At first I was getting a little discouraged, but it came through in the end.”

Edwards checked all the stuffed animals prior to giving them to the police departments to make sure they were in reusable condition, finding them all in great shape. During the month, Edwards saw many customers of the Co-Op come in and ask about the flyers, and then return with arms full of stuffed animals. Some families even came in more than once to participate. Though another donation isn’t happening immediately, Edwards is hopeful to do a repeat of the project within six to twelve months, when she believes more stations will be in need of stuffed animals.

“I think this is something that’s really important because in this day and time we have a lot of children who are in situations that they shouldn’t be at this age,” said Edwards. “I think it’s really important for the community to help, because if they had their children in that situation, they would want their child to feel as much comfort as possible. If their mom and dad are in a car accident and they have no clue why mom and dad are in an ambulance, it’s good to comfort the children and help them feel more at ease. It probably helps the first responders a little too, not having an upset child the whole time during a situation.”

Full bags were given to Daphne Sergeant Ken Lassiter, Elberta Chief Cliff Roberts, and Elberta Assistant Chief Ryan Pelfrey on Wednesday, May 16.

“Part of our mission at the Elberta Farmers Co-Op is giving back to the community,” said General Manager William Carlew. “We spend a great deal of money giving back, but we want to do more than just throw money at something. That’s why we do things like this project, to give back to our community.”

To learn more about the Elberta Farmers Co-Op, check their website at www.elbertacoop.com.