Kyler Germinder, 5, from Hastings is the winner of WOOD-TV’s “Connecting with Community Award,” announced in a special report on April 22 at 5 p.m.
Kyler’s mom Shelly Germinder said when Kyler was smaller and in the hospital, he was scared, and a nurse gave him a stuffed animal to hold to comfort him. The St. Augustine student remembered the kindness of the nurse and the furry animal when he needed a school project that would demonstrate mercy.
His plan was to get stuffed animals, give them to the people who help children all the time to give to the kids when they were scared or in a stressful situation.
“Kyler’s 3 B’s,” for “Be Brave Bears,” started in December, 2015. He began by donating stuffed animals to police agencies including the Hastings Police Department and Kalamazoo Public Safety and his program spread as other community organizations heard about his project.
For example, a 6th grade class at Thornapple Kellogg in Middleville donated 122 stuffed animals for Kyler to distribute. Some of the other places the animals have been donated include Bronson Methodist Hospital’s ER, Barry Community Mental Health, Safe Harbor, and the Department of Health and Human Services.
In the WOOD-TV report, Kalamazoo Public Safety Chief Jeff Hadley said the stuffed animals are in the department’s cruisers, noting that, “anything that comforts children in a stressful situation is a good thing.”
When Kyler donated a tote of stuffed animals to the Hastings Police Department in February, Shelly said they had several totes at home filled with animals and, “as long as we keep getting bears, we’ll keep giving them to people who help children.”
Jean Gallup
