A Massachusetts organization that works to help children in crisis visited Vernon on Monday to give Vernon police and firefighters comfort kits for children whose families experience a fire or other traumatic event.
The comfort kits, delivered to Fire Marshal Daniel Wasilewski, Deputy Fire Marshal Dan Peeler and Police Chief Marc Petruzzi are from Project Delta, an organization of Freemasons from Massachusetts.
Jon Hinthorne, the founder of Project Delta, and colleague Jay Rockne were in Connecticut Monday visiting several communities to drop off comfort kits.
Peeler signed up Vernon to receive the comfort kits, which contain several stuffed bears in a backpack, after learning about it at a regional fire marshals meeting. He applied for the comfort kits and within days Project Delta was ready to deliver them.
“So much goes through your mind when you experience a fire, and for kids those feelings can be even more intense,” Peeler said. “Anything we can do to try to ease the trauma kids experience is worthwhile.”
Hinthorne founded Project Delta after accumulating a lot of stuffed animals in his home. His son, who has autism, developed incredible skill using the claw machine arcade game, which often contains stuffed animals as prizes. It got to the point that every time Hinthorne’s son played, he won. And that meant there were tubs full of stuffed animals around his home.
He called his local police department to see if they could use the stuff animals and the department answered with an enthusiastic yes. Out of that grew Project Delta.
The organization is now three years old, is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit and has assisted police and fire departments in 15 states.
The idea behind the comfort kits is that kids have a stuff animal to cling to and a small bag to carry their possessions. Stuffed animals can be comforting for children who have experienced a traumatic situation, such as a fire.
If Vernon police and firefighters use up the 18 comfort kits they received Monday, they can request more.