Special delivery

Lawrence resident William Burke, 10, traveled to Gulfport, Miss. to distribute toys to young survivors of Hurricane Katrina.

By:Lea Kahn Staff Writer
William Burke knew that the stuffed animal he had created at the Build-A-Bear store at the Quaker Bridge Mall in October was among the thousands of toys sent to children who were victims of Hurricane Katrina.
   But the 10-year-old Lawrence Intermediate School student, who traveled to Gulfport, Miss., last week to distribute donated toys, did not expect to find stuffed animals from the Quaker Bridge Mall store in the first box that he opened.
   "I opened a box," William recalled Sunday afternoon. "There were stuffed animals that my grandmother and my aunt made. I started to scream. I was surprised. I was thinking to myself, ‘OK, this is a miracle.’ I found a stuffed dog that I made, and I gave it to a little girl’s mother. She was sick and her mother came to get one."
   The statewide toy drive, sponsored by radio station WKXW 101.5 FM, resulted in the donation of about 75,000 toys — all loaded into seven tractor-trailer trucks, said Cindy Burke, who is William’s mother. The toys were distributed to the children Dec. 14.
   It was William’s idea to hold a special event at the Quaker Bridge Mall’s Build-A-Bear store in October, Ms. Burke said. Similar events were held at Build-A-Bear stores at the Freehold Raceway Mall, Bridgewater Commons Mall, Hamilton Mall and Woodbridge Center Mall.
   William had not planned on making the trip to Gulfport, Miss., but Ms. Burke said that she and her husband, John Burke, believed it was an opportunity their son should not miss because of his participation in the toy drive.
   Mr. Burke was in Mississippi last week, helping the hurricane victims, when his son arrived for a four-day visit. William arrived in Mississippi on Dec. 14 and returned home Saturday.
   The plan to create stuffed animals and send them to Hurricane Katrina’s youngest victims grew out of Mr. Burke’s experiences as a volunteer in the aftermath of the hurricane, Ms. Burke said. Her husband spent several days in Mississippi on a work trip organized by the Presbyterian Church of Lawrenceville in October. The family belongs to the congregation.
   Mr. Burke was among a group of volunteers that had been asked to clean up a house, William said. He walked into a bedroom that belonged to 8-year-old Haley Zuvers. All of her stuffed animals had been ruined by the floodwaters.
   "She had a lot of stuffed animals," William said. "My dad walked into her room, turned around and walked right out. The girl had blond hair and blue eyes, like myself. He thought about me. I have about 250 stuffed animals."
   Touched by the story, the Burke family had planned to buy a Cabbage Patch doll for Haley. But when William heard about the radio station’s toy drive, he decided to make stuffed animals to send to other Hurricane Katrina victims, Ms. Burke said. A one-day event in October netted about 15 stuffed animals, made by the Burke family’s friends as well as people they met at the mall, she said.
   "As the toy drive progressed, all of us became more enthusiastic about helping the cause," Ms. Burke said. "My husband helped the radio station make contacts in Gulfport. He decided he wanted to go back to Mississippi. He arranged to go when the toys would be distributed."
   While making plans for Mr. Burke’s return trip to Mississippi, William’s parents decided their son should participate in the toy distribution.
   "As William got more excited, even though he didn’t ask to go, my husband and I thought it would be beneficial for him to see the whole project — to see it all the way through," Ms. Burke said. "We thought we would send William for a couple of days to help with the distribution."
   William also had a chance to spend the morning attending school at the Orange Grove Elementary School in Gulfport. He visited a fifth-grade class on Dec. 15, and had lunch with his new friends. It was actually "kind of fun," William said.
   Lunch was interesting, William said. The lunch menu featured ham, mashed potatoes and gravy, sweet potato pudding and black-eyed peas, he said. Black-eyed peas and sweet potato pudding were new foods for him, he said, adding that the sweet potato pudding tasted like pumpkin pie.
   And what of Haley Zuvers, the 8-year-old girl who inspired William and his family to take part in the toy drive?
   William said he made a teddy bear for Haley and sent it to her grandparents’ home in Tennessee, where she is staying. Haley takes the bear with her wherever she goes, he said — and if she can’t take the bear with her, her grandmother watches it for her.