She Works So Hillyard Children Can ‘Bear’ It

Some of the teddies at Hillyard’s COPS Northeast station were unbearable until Betty Bennett got hold of them.

They were missing button eyes or leaking from their seams. Most were filthy.

But through Bennett’s efforts to clean and repair them, dozens of second-hand teddy bears have been handed out to children who need them. Most of the bears, according to Bennett, have been given to children who have seen parents taken away by police in domestic violence situations.

“Sometimes it’s easier for a child to take to a bear than a person,” said Bennett, a volunteer at the COPS station.

Bennett’s work is a huge help to the officers who hand out the bears because the stuffed animals ease tensions and create a bridge between police and children, according to Percy Watkins, the officer stationed at the Hillyard COPS shop.

“It’s pretty traumatic to have their parents torn from them. So often, the kids are going to think the officers are the bad guy and consequently are going to think that every officer is a bad guy or is going to hurt Mommy or Daddy,” said Watkins. “It helps us get closer to them.”

In the past, there haven’t been enough bears to go around. Watkins remembered an incident a few years ago where officers had to arrest a man in front of his children. Officers had only two teddy bears for the three children.

Bennett started taking the bears home a year ago, when she saw a pile of them donated by the Hillyard St. Vincent de Paul Society sitting at the station. She disinfected and washed each bear, repaired it, and took them back to the station.

She has tough standards. “If they don’t pass inspection - if they’re not good enough to give to a traumatized child - they go in the (station) toy box,” said Bennett.

One by one, officers picked a handful to put in their trunks. When the table was almost empty, Bennett took home another load. And another.

She hasn’t met any of the children who have received the teddy bears, but officers have told her about them.

“The stories are nice, they’re great,” said Bennett, 68. “But as long as the bears disappear off the table, I get satisfaction.”

Bennett has lived in Hillyard most of her life. She has 11 grandchildren and four great-grandchildren - with another on the way - but most of them live out of the area.

She is an active volunteer. In addition to working at the COPS station, she is a counselor with the Youth Adult Beginning Experience, which ministers to kids who have lost a mother or father through death or divorce.

“It makes me feel like I’m doing something worthwhile besides sitting at a desk and answering phones,” said Bennett, a widow. “I have a desire to be needed.”

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Photo

MEMO: North Side Neighbors is a new column featuring remarkable North Side people. To suggest subjects for future columns, please write: North Side Voice, P.O. Box 2160, Spokane, WA 99210, or call editor Mike Schmeltzer at 459-5489.