MassBay Students Present State Police with Teddy Bear Donation

From left to right; Sgt. Nicole Morrell, Nancy Maillet, John Mattingly, Colonel Richard McKeon, Vania Dias, and Melissa Bell. Photo by Sgt. Tom Ryan, Massachusetts State Police.
Issue Date: 
February, 2017
Article Body: 

MassBay is pleased to announce five students raised $700 in donations on a GoFundMe page and purchased 100 teddy bears for the Massachusetts State Police as part of their Group Process Class in the Human Services program. The students involved in the project are; Vania Dias of Framingham, Melissa Bell of Framingham, John Mattingly of Marlborough, Nancy Maillet of Holliston, and Stephanie Kean of Boston.
The students extensively researched community outreach programs as part of their class project and decided to put their efforts into a program that assists children. Melissa Bell suggested the idea of donating the teddy bears to the Massachusetts State Police after talking to her father, a retired police Sergeant, and then speaking with some friends in the law enforcement community. The group decided the donations raised on the crowdfunding site would be used to purchase teddy bears for law enforcement to have on-hand in emergency situations involving children, serving as a comfort to young kids. This type of comfort helps children reduce fear and stress, while building a rapport with law enforcement officials during stressful situations.
The group presented the teddy bear donations to the Massachusetts State Police at their Framingham Headquarters on Monday, December 19, 2016.