Members of the Cutler Ridge Woman’s Club (CRWC) donated 65 stuffed animal toys that they had bought and then decorated with handmade clothing to the Cutler Bay Policing Unit on Nov. 22.
The toys will be used throughout the coming year to give to children in various incidents such as domestic violence.
Sergeant Chris Reed of the Neighborhood Resource Unit accepted the toys on behalf of the police.
Jane Ann Hotung from the CRWC has led the work on this project for the past three years and it is very dear to her heart.
“We got the teddy bears and things, and distributed them to the girls to put clothes on them, and told them ‘see what you can do,’ and some of them were wonderful,” Hotung said. “It’s just become a job of love each year and I think we will continue to do this project because it goes into the Cutler Bay community.”
She said that the Woman’s Club currently has 28 members, many retired and on Social Security, and they take pride in crocheting or knitting the little outfits they make to dress up the teddy bears, dogs, monkeys, frogs and other toy “critters” that they donate.
“The children in cases of domestic abuse are often wandering around when the police respond and I’m a nurse myself so I know it’s a serious time and the children need some comfort at that moment, and it’s something that our club can do,” Hotung said. “It gives us a really good feeling, especially at Thanksgiving. It’s an act of love, and we’re able to do it.”
Besides the stuffed toy project, the Woman’s Club has plans for other helpful things in the coming year. One project, especially in the wake of the damage done in the Caribbean by Hurricane Matthew in early October.
“We’re hoping to make some little girls’ dresses and to send them to Jamaica and Haiti,” Hotung said. “We have to work with what we can do and what we can afford.”
