News : AMVETS provide a bear hug when it's needed

Area members of the AMVETS brought teddy bears to the Abbe Center's youngest visitors.

The local AMVETS presented Care Bears to the local Abbe Center Office in Vinton. The bears are donated to places like the Abbe Center who might need the bears to entertain children who might be waiting for a session to finish up. But sometimes the bears just need to be hugged during sessions, so the bears are available to children as a companion and a take home buddy.

Commander Dennis Miller, Rich Sisco, and PDP KarenAnn Miler presented the bears to the center earlier this month. AMVET Care Bears can also be found in other needed locations. They are also found in squad cars, sheriff cars, and ambulances in the area. When the organizations run out of bear companions and need more, the AMVETS will provide a "refill.".

The post does fundraising for projects and sets aside a portion for the teddy bear program. If anyone would like to donate to the program and help to stock more of the teddy bears for area children, you can donate to the AMVETS. "We order them from the Department of Iowa, who purchases the bears in quantity where they are bagged and ribbons put on them by the Executive Directors' wife, Velda Leckington," said KarenAnn Miller. "We try to make sure the bears are American-made." According to Miller, only the Department of Arizona hands out as many bears as Iowa.