Realtor Seeking Teddy Bears for Newtown Kids

Sara Latta-Young didn’t want to just sit around, feeling powerless.

Despite being nearly 1,000 miles from the tragedy in Newtown, Conn., the Plainfield Realtor felt she had to do something.

After hearing about the shooting from a friend living in Connecticut, Latta-Young decided to take action, so she got in touch with organizers from Operation Fuzzy Wuzzy II.

The name may sound a bit silly, but the group’s purpose is anything but: the organization is working to provide comfort in the form of teddy bears to the children of Newtown.

“I can’t sit around and feel helpless,” Latta-Young wrote on her Web site. “I can’t sit here 864 miles away and do nothing. I can’t and I won’t,” she added, noting that her friend, a resident of Brookfield, Conn., is a Plainfield native. The woman lives just one town over from Newtown.

“ … She knows many people there,” Latta-Young wrote. “There are the women who are in her Moms Club, who are in her book club, whose children play with her children at the local parks and play places. These are her friends.

"I knew there was a very good chance that she could know one of the victims. I never fathomed that when all was said and done she would know four of the innocent children who were so violently taken from their loved ones. I can’t even imagine.”

Latta-Young, a managing broker with Coldwell Banker Honig-Bell, is collecting new, unwrapped teddy bears now through Dec. 24 so they can be shipped to Connecticut by Dec. 28.

“I will be happy to pick up any teddy bears,” Latta-Young said. She will also provide drop boxes to local businesses that would like to take part in the collection effort.

So far, she said, the response has been overwhelming.

To arrange for a teddy bear pick-up, call Latta-Young at 815-685-5090.

Teddy bears can be dropped off in Joliet at the following locations:

• Eich’s Sports, 24316 W. 143^rd St., Plainfield
• The Perfect Invitation, 24046 W. Lockport St., Plainfield
• Aurelio’s Pizza, 14421 Wallin Dr. (Route 30), Plainfield
• St. John Lutheran Church, 2650 Plainfield Rd., Joliet (drop-off times are from 5 to 8 p.m. Dec. 19, 5 to 6:30 p.m. Dec. 22 and 8 a.m. to noon Dec. 23)
• Bounce Town, 126 Kirkland Circle, Oswego
• Coldwell Banker Honig-Bell locations including Plainfield, Joliet, Romeoville, Shorewood and Channahon (click here for a full list of locations and addresses)

(click here for a full list of locations and addresses)

“I am doing this for my own children: my daughters in high school who I worry about every day when they leave for school and my 6-year-old who I never worried about before Friday when I walk her to the bus stop and kiss her as the bus rolls up to the stop,” Latta-Young wrote.

“Most importantly, I am doing this for the children of Newtown, so that hopefully this small act of kindness can help these children as they move forward.”