November 26, 2001

THE BEARS bring smiles to the faces of rescue workers and relief workers, including those at the Emergency Operations Center above.

Texas Baptists help New Yorkers with bear therapy
___By James Dotson
___North American Mission Board
___NEW YORK CITY (BP)--It was the day after the crash of United Airlines Flight 587, and as family members of the victims gathered at one end of the Jacob Javitz Convention Center, a team of Southern Baptist disaster relief volunteers delivered and quickly spread 200 plush toys around a small child-care center inside.
___While the parents gathered for an informational meeting on dealing with identifying remains and other grisly and painful details, the idea was to give the children a small reminder from individuals across the United States and Canada that they do not stand alone.
___They call them trauma bears, but the items include purple dinosaurs, bunnies and other stuffed toy crea

TEXANS John and Kaywin LaNoue (right), Southern Baptist disaster relief coordinators for the bear distribution ministry, confer with city and American Red Cross officials at New York's Emergency Operations Center Nov. 13.

tures.
___Five years ago, citizens of Oklahoma City were the beneficiaries of stuffed animals after the Murrah Federal Building bombing, and those same citizens reciprocated by initiating what has become an international response to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in New York.
___The Southern Baptist disaster relief network has processed and distributed more than 15,000 toys.
___"The mayor's office has asked us to distribute the bears, and if for no other reason than to honor the mayor's request, we need to do it," said John LaNoue, a 30-year disaster relief veteran from Texas. LaNoue and his wife, Kaywin, were called in to coordinate the effort.
___"We also have found it to be a tremendous personal blessing and opportunity for ministry," said LaNoue, a retired staff member with Texas Baptist Men.
___Baptists have been one of the primary providers of hot meals for emergency and relief workers since the attacks and more recently have developed a large-scale operation

KAYWIN LaNoue carries two bags full of donated bears to ready them for distribution in New York City.

cleaning up apartments adjacent to the former World Trade Center complex.
___The bears have become a symbol in many ways of the nation's empathy for all those affected by the attack. Some are donated through the mail, while others were left at local memorials for victims. Many carry notes of encouragement from the donors as reminders that they are loved.
___Many of the bears are given to children who were in some way victimized by the attacks, while others go to children in homeless shelters, hospitals, child-abuse and neglect situations. But they also go to adults, either for giving to needy children or to keep for themselves.
___One police officer told Mrs. LaNoue, "You will never know what these bears and T-shirts have meant to the morale of this department, just to know that somebody cares."
___On another occasion, she told a particularly wearied firefighter, "You look like you need a bear."
___"I do. I really do," he replied.
___At the city's Emergency Operations Center, where representatives of Baptist disaster relief and other agencies maintain offices, the bears frequently are found on top of computers or desks--spreading a message of happiness amid the overwhelming sorrow faced by volunteers and staffers daily.
___The processing for the toys begins at the Southern Baptist disaster relief operations center at the Brooklyn Navy Shipyard. Volunteers first remove them from cardboard boxes, clean and sort them as necessary and pack them for distribution in plastic bags.
___LaNoue said the toys often give him opportunities for impromptu counseling with overstressed emergency workers. And while he can't claim that all the toys were given by Christians because they wanted to share God's love, he often has opportunities to share his personal motivation for helping to coordinate the distribution effort. He calls such opportunities "faith flags."
___"They remember that and come back to you and ask you for the faith story," he said.
___

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