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Chesterfield girl starts teddy bear drive for Sandy victims

Posted at 6:11 PM, Nov 07, 2012
and last updated 2012-11-10 09:21:09-05

CHESTERFIELD COUNTY, Va. (WTVR) - A fourth grader in Chesterfield County is taking action after watching Hurricane Sandy batter New Jersey and New York last week.

Nine-year-old Elizabeth Kandris, who goes by Lizzie, said watching the powerful storm impact so much of the nation's East Coast was scary.

Even more troubling for Lizzie was the realization that so many of the storm's youngest victims had lost everything. In fact, after seeing some of those victims' faces, Elizabeth knew she had to do something.

So she told her mom that she would like to donate some of her stuffed animals to other children. That idea quickly snowballed into a stuffed animal drive.

"A stuffed animal can make you feel better when you're scared," Lizzie told CBS 6 News senior reporter Wayne Covil Wednesday. "It makes you feel better if you have something to cuddle with."

The girl's mother is getting Chesterfield County school bus drivers involved in the drive.

Plus, her aunt, who works for Advance Auto Parts, has set up collection boxes at four different locations to collect stuffed animals through Nov. 17.

"Stuffed animals and toys and stuffed tend to cheer people up and its going to mean a lot to the children," Kim Watkins, Lizzie's aunt, said.

Lizzie will be at the Advanced Auto Parts store at 12051 Hull Street on Saturday, to hand out flyers and collect stuffed animals from 10 a.m. until 1 p.m.

If you'd like to donate to the drive, just drop off a stuffed animal at one of the following  locations:

Lizzy's Stuffed Animal Drive
c/o Bermuda Self Storage
10500 Jefferson Davis Highway
Richmond, Va 23237

Advance Auto Parts Store 8924
12051 Southshore Pointe Rd
Midlothian VA 23112
804-639-4704

Advance Auto Parts - Store 2360
10710 Hull Street
Midlothian, VA 23112
804-674-5187

Advance Auto Parts
3020 Jefferson Davis Hwy
Richmond

Brass Monkey
12211 Jefferson Davis Hwy
Chester, Va 23831

Bermuda Self Storage
10500 Jefferson Davis Hwy
N. Chesterfield, Va 23237

VaCo
1207 E Main St
Richmond, Va

Aura Spa and Salon
12042 West Broad St
Richmond, Va

Hilton Hotel
Short Pump

Meadowbrook High School

Chesterfield County School Bus Drivers
Area 1 Office

Chesterfield Federal Credit Union
(courthouse branch)