Kerry McCluskey
Northern News Services

Iqaluit (Feb 14/00) - In one fell swoop, Ellen Bennett managed to turn around her personal grief and make all the difference in the world to child victims of crime.

When the Iqaluit resident's mother died last December she decided to make an extremely generous donation after consulting with family members.

"She was quite ill for the last few years of her life and people took to bringing her teddy bears instead of flowers," said Bennett.

"There was really quite a variety," she added.

Not wanting to see the toys stuffed in closets and going to waste, and with an inkling of an idea brewing from stories told to her by her father, Bennett said she and her relatives decided it only made sense that local RCMP members use the more than 100 bears to comfort children affected by crime.

"My dad was a police officer and he was always interested in looking after things like this," said Bennett.

"He was always talking about the things they did for kids and I wanted to show the good things police do, the good stuff along the way," she said.

Sgt. Mike O'Malley leapt at the offer.

"It will make some sad kids happy and will be a positive note in what's otherwise a sad situation," said O'Malley.

He explained that members would carry the bears in their police vehicles to have on hand when making official calls and that they would also be made available at the detachment.

"As we see fit, we'll pass them out," he said.

Fellow police officer Cpl. Harry Harding also threw his support to the donation.

"If we're attending a call, we can take the child aside and give them a teddy bear and keep them occupied, keep their minds off things while we're doing our other work," he said.

Bennett, an active volunteer in Iqaluit, said she was glad to be able to help make a difference.

"If it makes things a little less traumatic for children, in the long run, that helps everybody," she said.

As for her mother, Bennett noted this was exactly the kind of thing she would have done herself.

"She was involved in all kinds of charities. She would have been very happy to see this kind of thing happen."