| About our project: When Hurricane Katrina hit, my brother & I sat in our living room, mouths open in disbelief. It was the first time I had even seen such devastation. I can remember tears rolling down my face when I realized that kids my age were cold, hurt, scared and most did not even have a Teddy Bear to hug and to comfort them. My brother and I looked at each other and said, "we have to help." Then we ran to our mom and told her our idea; send Teddy Bears (or stuffed animals) to the children in the disaster zone. My mom thought is was a great idea & helped us by calling everyone under the sun until she finally found a charity who loved our idea and wanted to help. We collected 12 boxes of toys (over 500 items!) & donated our items to The Society of St. Vincent de Paul, in Houston, Texas which took in many of the victims. Children who are victims of trauma, receive so much benefit from a toy to hug & play with - it helps to normalize things & calm them. After helping the hurricane victims, my brother and I wanted to continue Tara's Teddy Bears & help the children in need in the Charlotte, NC area. So we began to collect small toys & personal care items to fill Christmas stockings for kids! This Christmas (2007) we donated 300 filled Christmas stockings to at-risk children in the Charlotte, NC area! If you would like to help children in need, you may send new small toys & personal care items to our office address: 2110 Hedgelawn Drive - Charlotte, NC 28262 Call my mom at home if you have any questions: 704-593-1717! Thanks for your help! This is some of what Tara Nicole's Teddy's has collected so far (includes the hurricane relief & our local charity work) & some of the people who have helped! Special thank you to the Miss American Royalty Pageant's contestants for helping us with our cause! Tara Nicole has donated with her own money: 8 school uniforms * 100 toys *10 pairs of mittens * 50 Easter Baskets * 40 Christmas Stockings *50 pairs of socks Nick Azarian has donated with his own money: 50 toys * 4 pairs of PJ's* 48 school supplies* 4 rulers Beth & Leah Hutchens $25 for postage to help mail our packages to Texas MissAmerican Royalty Pageant: $100 for postage * 50 prs of new undergarments * 500 toys * 90 Christmas stockings * 35 prs of new socks * 40 notebooks / school supplies *7 prs of new pajamas * 9 personal care items *5 new outfits * 3 pairs of new slippers Isabelle Waugh: $20 for postage Tori Layton: 11 toys Austin, Evan, Tony & Stacey Alpern: For calling all the kids invited to Evan & Austin's birthday party & telling them about Tara's Teddys! Thanks to your family spreading the word & allowing your party to be a drop off zone for donations, we raised 70 stuffed animals for the hurricane victims! Angela, Courtney & Madison Hardin: $20 for postage * 8 toothbrushes * 18 notebooks & 74 toys!!!! WOW!! Mr. & Mrs. Thomas Christie: 13 toys! Angel & Tony Laursen: 23 assorted toys * school supplies * personal care items. Miss American Rose Pageant: 23 toys |
| Tara Nicole American Royalty National Queen of Queens Junior Miss Civic American 2007-8 |
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| Page 2 click here More info on our pg 2! Updates on contributions & more photos! :) |
| UPDATE! Tara Nicole & The Tara's Teddy Project have been selected by BUILD-A-BEAR, as one of 100 National Semi-Finalists in the HUGGABLE HERO Volunteer Service Award! |
