Directions: Read the text “Making Hard Times Bear-able” and answer the questions below.
Making Hard Times Bear-able
Fourth-grader Jessica Carscadden has a special teddy bear that her grandma gave her. She says she “huggles”— hugs and cuddles—it every night. The bear makes her feel safe when she’s scared or sad. Jessica wants to help other kids feel safe, too. That’s why she started a stuffedanimal collection project called We Care Bears.
It began when Jessica was cleaning her room. “I had some stuffed animals that I didn’t need anymore,” she says. Then she thought of the fire station across the street from her house. “I realized that if I gave the stuffed animals to the firefighters, they could give them to kids they meet who are scared or injured.,” she says.
Jessica and her dad took a bag of stuffed animals to the fire station. “The firefighters were happy to get them,” she says. After that, she wondered if other kids had unwanted stuffed animals that were in very good condition to give away. She shared her thoughts with her school principal and the members of the student council. They thought the idea was great. So Jessica talked to the entire school at an assembly.
Students brought stuffed toys to school and placed them in collection bags. At the end of two weeks, Jessica’s friends helped her load about 300 stuffed animals of all kinds into her mom’s van!
Bags and Bags of Bears
Jessica carefully sorted the donations, making sure all the stuffed animals were in good condition. Her parents drove her to local fire stations to deliver them. Soon, news of her We Care Bears project spread. Several more schools and a restaurant held collection drives to help.
Since she started We Care Bears, Jessica has delivered hundreds of bags of bears and other stuffed animals to fire stations in Southern California—about 3,000 stuffed toys in all! Lynette Round, who works for the Orange County Fire Authority, says, “The firefighters use the stuffed animals to help children in crisis.”
Jessica is glad that so many kids will have a teddy bear or other animasl to “huggle” during a difficult time. She says, “If I was hurt, I’d want somebody to help me.”
Highlights is proud to know this Gallant Kid.
“Making Hard Times Bear-able” by Sara Matson. Copyright © 2014 Highlights for Children, Inc., Columbus, Ohio. All rights reserved. Used by permission.