Student Collects Stuffed Animals for Abused Children

LWC sophomore Sydney Bird of Louisville, Ky., sits among more than 200 stuffed
animals she and other LWC Bonner leaders helped collect for the Lake Cumberland
Children's Advocacy Center.

COLUMBIA, Ky. -- A Lindsey Wilson College student has made a traumatic experience a little less trying for area children.

Lindsey Wilson student Sydney Bird of Louisville, Ky., recently led a drive that collected stuffed animals for the Lake Cumberland Children's Advocacy Center. The drive collected more than 200 stuffed animals from LWC students, faculty and staff.

The Lake Cumberland Children's Advocacy Center will give the stuffed animals to children who are brought to the center in Jamestown, Ky. The center is a place for children who are alleged victims of sexual abuse to go for medical attention and counseling. It's also where law enforcement, child protection and mental health representatives collaborate on child sexual abuse cases.

Every child taken to the center receives a t-shirt and a stuffed animal to make the process of working with authorities easier and more comfortable.

The center recently found itself in desperate need of stuffed animals to give to alleged victims. So Bird, who is an LWC Bonner leader, stepped in to help.

 "I really wanted to do a stuffed animal drive for the Lake Cumberland Children's Advocacy Center," Bird said. "We collected more than 200 stuffed animals from other students and some faculty and staff here at the college."

Bird was thrilled with the response of the Lindsey Wilson College community.

 "It's amazing," she said. "They (Lake Cumberland Children's Advocacy Center) were really short on toys and stuffed animals, and I'm so glad people came together to make this happen for the children of the region."