After a tragedy strikes, the kindness of strangers can unite a community while it tries to rebuild. These stories can inspire us, and give us hope. A story involving a teddy bear does just that.
A tornado caused a massive amount of destruction in Mountainburg, Arkansas on Friday, April 13th. Some people lost their homes and everything they had. Rick Kimes’ mom’s business was hit pretty hard by the tornado.
“They owned a service station here, a wrecker service, and I mean it took it clean out,” Kimes said. “It was like a direct hit, right on it. The house is going to come down. So she’s lost everything here.”
A woman in Mountainburg says she "sat in the bathtub and prayed" during the tornado that hit her home last night. Hear how she's picking up the pieces on @KNWAnews at 6. #NWark pic.twitter.com/OXNAv6Gmvd
— Peyton Yager (@peytonyager) April 14, 2018
Buildings can be rebuilt, but sentimental items that are missing forever can be a painful loss. This can be especially hard on young children who are facing possible homelessness without their comfort creatures.
One company is on a quest to help one of those children. Ashby Street Outdoor Advertising installation crew found a teddy bear while they were cleaning up from the tornado. They named the bear “Teddy Bear Doe” and set out on a hunt to reunite him with his owner.
The company put up a billboard that reads, “Mountainburg Tornado Victim Seeks Owner.” There also is a picture of the teddy bear and a phone number to call to make this reunion happen.
https://www.facebook.com/AshbyStOutdoor/photos/a.681400478598566.1073741825.194625403942745/1960315470707054/?type=3
The billboard has gotten a lot of attention and may have helped locate this teddy bear’s rightful owner. The company posted on its Facebook account, “A million thanks to all that have shared this post! At this point we have one family that we are told lost everything and maybe the possible owner. We are working on getting in contact with them now.”
The kindness of this company has brought a lot of smiles to this community after the destructive tornado. Everyone seems to understand that a child may very well be missing his or her bear and want a reunion to happen.
Share this story to help this teddy bear reunite with its family!
Source: Western Journal