PORT CHARLOTTE – Mary Markey’s career in psychology introduced her to children who are affected by family violence. Through that, she had a desire to bring comfort into their lives by giving them a teddy bear.
Eight ways Markey embodies FIERCE:
1. Comfort: The Teddy Bear Project started in North Carolina. Markey saw that kids gravitate towards stuffed animals during visitation. “At the end of visitation they had to leave them behind,” Markey said. “I noticed that it was kind of sad.”
2. Community: Donations spilled in for teddy bears, so children could take one home. Extras went to law enforcement officers and firefighters who were sometimes present during visitation. “It was really cool because they sent a patrol car to pick them up at our family center,” she said. “They had them all sitting in the backseat of the patrol car and the trunk.”
3. Service: When Markey moved to Florida, she brought the Teddy Bear Project with her. “We are pretty much 24/7 and we never say no,” she said. “We got a call for help from Asheville, North Carolina a couple of weeks ago, because of the hurricanes, and we shipped 110 teddy bears and buds that were actually collected and donated to us by our local boy scout troop here in Charlotte County.”