Jefferson Awards

Cuddling Comfort for Children in Need

Jefferson Award Winner: Anastasia Fullerton

Piedmont (CBS 5) ― Anastasia Fullerton is making one of her special pick-ups: bags of stuffed puppets for children in need through a program she calls Cuddle Buddies.

"I always loved my stuffed animals, you know, always had them with me whether I went to school or to a sleep over," she explains.

In fact, it's hard to find a photo of young Anastasia without a stuffed animal in hand. But it was a book that inspired her to share her passion with others.

"In sixth grade, I read this book called "They Cage the Animals at Night" by Jennings Michael Burch," she says. "He was abandoned by his mother and was sent through all these various orphanages and foster homes. Throughout the book, his only companion is his stuffed doggy. It really rang with me that he could have such a deep connection with a stuffed animal."

Anastasia found her cousin was also moved by the story. Together they decided to see how they could help.

Anastasia says, "I wrote a letter to my principal and all the principals within the Piedmont school district, asking if it would be all right if I did a drive for stuffed animals through the schools."

With little publicity and some homemade logos, she put out collection bins and was surprised at what happened next.

"Within the first week I put out the bins, I got calls from all these schools, (saying) the bins are overflowing, you'll have to come and pick them up," Anastasia recalls. "Within my first collection I had 500 stuffed animals."

These days, Cuddle Buddies sends stuffed animals to several Bay Area organizations like the East Bay Agency for Children, where the staff says they are much more than just toys. Director of Development Brenda Lynch says the animals provide comfort and are used in play therapy.

"We are primarily a mental health agency and so many of the children that we work with have been abused and neglected," explains Brenda. "The stuffed animal from Anastasia will become the vehicle, the way to express feelings, so it really is helpful."

In the past six years, Cuddle Buddies school drives and donations have distributed about 15,000 animals to children. Anastasia has recruited new students to continue her program as she looks to college. Her dream is to one day meet the author of the book that started it all.

"I never thought a book would change my life so profoundly. When I was little, everyone was always talking about how books had changed their life, and I was kind of ok, but to have a book that really did have a huge impact on me, was an amazing experience," she says.

So for taking action to bring comfort to children in her community, this week's Jefferson Award in the Bay Area goes to Anastasia Fullerton.

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