As a kid, Marie Allin’s favorite stuffed animal was a panda bear named Teddy.
“He’s not in very good shape, but I still have him,” said Allin, a longtime member of the Senior Volunteer Patrol through the Poway Sherrif’s Department. “According to my mother, that was the one thing I always took with me to bed.”
This month, Allin is hoping to create similar memories for other children―along with the rest of the Sheriff's Department, which is collecting stuffed animals for the kids at Rady Children’s Hospital this holiday season. Allin says anyone can add to the donation box in their lobby through Friday, Nov. 30.
“It can be any brand new stuffed animal with tags,” Allin said. “We’ve got three orange and blue and green frogs—I see those right now in the box. And teddy bears.”
The Sherriff’s Department is also collecting food for the San Diego Food Bank through Thursday, Dec. 20, and will accept anything canned and non-perishable, as well as items like infant formula, packaged nuts and seeds, diapers, toothpaste and toilet paper.
“They take all kinds of things,” Allin said, adding that they can’t accept anything in glass jars or homemade items.
This is the second annual food drive hosted by the Sheriff’s Department. Last year, Allin says they collected 200 pounds of food with the help of Poway residents.
“I told everybody in our meeting last week, ‘OK, we want to do better than that!’ ” Allin said, laughing.
The sheriff’s station is located at 13100 Bowron Rd.
