You may remember a food drive we did a few months back for St. Vincent de Paul. We collected bunches of assorted canned goods and dry food as a part of our February Dodge Ball Day. We have another Dodge Ball Day coming up in May. This go round, instead of collecting food we are collecting new or gently used stuffed animals. I could tell you about the awesome reason for our stuffed animal drive, but I think our assistant instructor Scarlett may be able to explain it better.
Three years ago, my mom started a job as an Emergency Room nurse at Sts. Mary and Elizabeth Hospital. She told me stories about the children that would come to the hospital, but that it wasn’t very kid-friendly. I decided that I wanted to help the kids who went to the hospital, to feel better and be less afraid. I realized that I always have my pink stuffed bear, named Pinkey, to help me when I’m scared. So I decided that all of the kids at the hospital needed a stuffed animal to keep them from being scared.
I started collecting new and used stuffed animals then and have probably collected more than a thousand by now. I take the animals and wash and dry them at my house. Then I put tags on them that say “Get Well Soon. The Pinkey Project.” (I named the project after my own bear Pinkey).
Signed,
Scarlett, age 12
Green Belt, St. Matthews Martial Arts
Black Belt Club Member
If you would like to contribute a stuffed animal for the Pinkey Project, you can deliver it to St. Matthews Martial Arts. If you would like to join us for Dodge Ball Day you can sign up at the dojo. Everyone is welcome, no previous karate, dodge ball, or ninja experience required.