Good deed to give bears
a second chance at love
MARLBORO — A vacation to grandma launched an idea; two middle school pupils made the idea a reality; many more lent a hand; and now, more than 300 disadvantaged children will benefit.
The idea was for Warm-a-Heart, a program concocted by best friends Rithu Ramachandran and Rachel Sender, pupils at the Marlboro Middle School.
The idea began as a simple desire to get involved and to do something for the community.
"My grandma is very involved in the community," said Rithu, describing the volunteering spirit that inspired her. "She told me to collect something and give it away."
Upon returning to Marlboro, Rithu wasted no time in getting her action plan together. As school began, she recruited Rachel, her schoolmate and friend. Together, they decided to collect teddy bears.
Rithu said the idea stemmed from the fact that as children grow up, most of their teddy bears end up stored away in the basement and forgotten about. Yet, these furry companions were a very dear possession at one time and should instead be dear to someone else.
"Teddy bears were something that I loved a lot," she said.
After receiving approvals from the Robertsville Elementary School, school libraries, the Marlboro library, the police department and the Marlboro ShopRite, Rachel and Rithu began collecting teddy bears just as the Christmas season rolled around.
"The response was amazing," Rithu said. "The next day, we received phone calls saying that the boxes (that had been left at the collection locations) were already full and they were overflowing every other day."
For the next couple of weeks, as Rachel juggled daily show choir rehearsals and Rithu kept up with clarinet practice, the boxes filled up steadily. Residents contributed new and used teddy bears. Together, the girls visited the various collection boxes and called each location every day.
Although the additional time and transportation required for Warm-a-Heart was taxing on both girls, they agreed that it was worth it.
"I kind of liked worrying about it," Rithu said.
With a goal of 200 teddy bears, the numbers skimmed the 300 mark in February.
"We were afraid that doing Warm-a-Heart so close to Christmas would make it hard to compete with Toys for Tots and other more popular drives, but it ended up not being the case at all," Rachel said.
With the 300 teddy bears stored away in Rachel’s garage and Rithu’s basement, the girls are awaiting pick-up from the Goodwill Rescue Mission of Newark. Representatives of that organization will then distribute the teddy bears to the children in their mission.
Although the girls are relieved to have the project done, Rachel and Rithu, who will be in the eighth grade in September, are already looking forward to a bigger and better plan for next year.
"I feel great!" Rachel said. "It’s a great thing to do, and it’s for a good cause."
"I feel good knowing that someone else is going to use the bears," Rithu added.
Rithu’s father, Ram, who encouraged and supported her throughout her efforts, is inspired by the service that he has witnessed.
"This demonstrates that volunteerism is still alive and ticking," Ram said. "A great tragedy doesn’t have to take place to bring a community together.
"We have to keep doing things to keep the memory of a strong community alive," he said.