It wasn’t a usual Friday afternoon scene: two Grade 6 girls, an ambulance and a collection of pigs, monkeys, pandas and bears.
No, it wasn’t a bizarre field trip or Squamish movie set, it was when Justine Lalli and her friend Lola Bosa presented boxes of stuffed animals to the BC Ambulance Service at its station in the Squamish Business Park.
The girls donated the extra-large “stuffies” – as they called them – to help comfort children who find themselves in an ambulance.
“We thought we wanted to give back to the community,” said Lalli, while bouncing on the balls of her feet with anticipation just before the presentation.
“And also give to the kids out there, when they are sick or ill, they can have something to hold onto and it’s a comfort for them.”
Lalli said other members of her class at her Collingwood School have fundraised for different groups, but she and Bosa wanted to do something different – “something that was inspiring to us that we really thought we liked.”
The girls raised about $150 with a bake sale and bottle drive and then got a break when the Squamish Wal-Mart agreed to give them a big discount on the stuffed animals they chose.
Bosa had to visit a hospital this year when she broke her arm and wrist playing soccer, so she said she could imagine the toys will help other sick or injured children.
“I would have really felt comforted,” said Bosa, acknowledging she was pretty scared when she got hurt.
About four children a year in Squamish are involved in incidents that require them to be taken by ambulance, according to the ambulance service, but that doesn’t include chronically ill children who are transferred from Squamish for medical care.
“It is really nice. I am amazed,” said paramedic Al Malayko, who added his title also now includes “head stuffie supervisor.”
Malayko said being able to offer children a toy helps make what is usually a traumatic event a little easier.
“It certainly brings a smile and relieves the discomfort.”
The plan is to send some of the animals to other services and clinics along the Sea to Sky Corridor, he said.
Next, the girls want to do a school drive where students bring in their nearly new stuffed animals, which they will put with a blanket to create a winter comfort pack for children who are less fortunate.
