Blankets and books and bears, oh my!
The Bond Head Women’s Institute donated 35 kits — each containing a blanket, a book and a teddy bear — to the South Simcoe Police Service at the service’s South Division building in Bradford on Thursday.
The kits are placed into the cruisers to be at the ready when an officer responds to a collision, domestic disturbance or other call where a child may need something to help comfort them.
“Their faces light up. They hug it. It’s visceral. It makes a difference, it really does. You have our utmost appreciation,” Insp. Henry Geoffroy said during the donation.
He explained the kits can provide children a break from the trauma they may be experiencing during a challenging time.
“In such a terrible moment, I actually see a smile on the child’s face, and I get a little bit emotional and choked up about it because, ... when you provide that glimmer of hope or that glimmer of solace in a terrible situation, that’s when I feel ‘OK, at least we’ve made a bad situation somewhat better,’ ” Geoffroy said.
During the presentation, a group of institute volunteers and officers spoke openly about the issues they see in the community.
Geoffroy feels that post-pandemic, there’s an overall increase in societal stress and emotional fatigue that has caused mental health to take a step backwards.
Having worked in social services for 33 years, Liz Moore, president of the local women's institute, said she recently had the unfortunate experience of witnessing how that scenario can put children in traumatic situations like domestic violence.
“It never doesn’t hurt, it just breaks you to the core of your soul,” she said.
Moore explained the institute has been making these types of donations to police, fire and paramedic services for the last decade, and normally in February, but the increased need post-pandemic made them feel as if they couldn’t wait.
“When I was reading the police service’s report and they were talking about the increase of family violence and the increase of drunk driving with children in cars, we became aware of how critically important it would be to step it up and not wait until February,” Moore said.
The institute is already working to prepare more kits for future donations to other services, but chose the police for this donation in consideration of the loss and criticism their members face.
“It is our respect and support to them and we hope in some way a positive impact also helps them as they deal with the everyday policing reality,” Moore said.
Geoffroy expressed his appreciation for the effort and consideration.
“The hardest thing about policing is watching human suffering, and if we can do something to alleviate that little bit of suffering in that moment, which this does, then it makes our job a little bit easier, so thank you for that,” he said.
A community group, the Bond Head Women’s Institute has officially existed since 1902, is looking to expand beyond its current membership of 12, and expects to resume meetings every second Monday starting in September.
Anyone interested in volunteering can email [email protected].
