Tara's Teddys
About my project:

Hi everyone, my name is Tara-Nicole & I am 10 years old.  Welcome to our site!  Please read all
about our program & if you would like to help, simply e-mail us at: STARRCROWN@aol.com

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!

We have also helped out Toys-For-Tots, literacy programs & The Angel Tree.
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Tara's Teddy Bears Statistics at a glance:

*Over 7,000 Bears, books, Christmas Gifts, Easter gifts have been donated to kids in need
since 2005.

* We have donated our items to: Operation Homefront, The YMCA of Greater Charlotte, Senior
Center of Harrisburg, Toys for Tots, Operation Christmas Child, the Boys & Girls Club, The
Salvation Army, Operation Homefront, Soles for Souls & many, many more.

Recent donations:
* April, 2010 - 70 Easter baskets to the Boys & Girls Club of Charlotte.
* March, 2010 - 300 books donated to local charities.
* February, 2010 - donated clothing to The Emperor's New Clothes Clothing Drive.
* December, 2009 - 200 Bears to Toys for Tots.
* November, 2009 - 250 bears to Operation Homefront (which helps military families in need.

Last Christmas (2009) we donated 200 filled Christmas stockings to at-risk children in the
Charlotte, NC area!
2009 Finalist
UPDATE:
Thanks so much to our participants of our latest Teddy Bear Drive!
We collected over 200 Teddy Bears for the Tara's Teddys Program!
Each of you who participated has helped make a child happy!
Thank you again!
xxoo Tara-Nicole, NAM North Carolina Junior PreTeen 2009-10
Miss North Carolina  Preteen  National Teenager 2010-11

Here are some letters we've received from the people we've helped!
Pictured above: Operation Homefront, Kohl's Kids Who Care Local Winner, Build A Bear National
Finalist  - Pictured Below: Clothing Drive, Boys & Girls Club & Salvation Army Drive.