Civitans give teddy bears to Granite Quarry police

Friday, June 12, 2009 7:40 AM  |  Printer friendly version | E-mail to a friend |

By Cyntra Brown

For the Salisbury Post

GRANITE QUARRY — The Granite Quarry Civitan Club has provided 100 teddy bears to the town's police department for officers to use when dealing with children.

The club presented the bears to the department at the June 1 town Board of Aldermen meeting.

Fifteen years ago, the club participated in a Civitan International project to provide teddy bears to law enforcement departments to be used to comfort small children who had been involved in accidents or other traumatic situations. The bears make the law enforcement officer seem less-threatening and friendlier.

Over the years, the Granite Quarry Police Department ran out of bears and called on the Civitan Club to provide a new supply to the department. Club members found they would have to start from scratch since the artwork for the bears no longer existed.

With a little research, Marie's Print Shop supplied the bears with specially printed shirts designed by one of the Civitan Club members. Granite Quarry Police Chief Clyde Adams said the bears are very useful and he expressed his appreciation to the club for its support.

Don Livengood, coordinator of the teddy bear project, said he was pleased with the success of the project.

"Helping other people," Livengood said, "That's what the Civitans are about."

The Granite Quarry Civitan Club is a member club of Civitan International and meets twice monthly. The organization's motto is, "Builders of Good Citizenship."