It would have been easy for Vanessa Gallagher to pass off her 4 1/2-year-old daughter's worries about the homeless staying warm in chilly weather.
But Sophie was too persistent to be ignored or pacified.
"She kept saying, 'Mom, how can we help? What can we do,' '' Gallagher said.
Gallagher repeatedly explained about the organizations and programs that help the homeless, but that wasn't enough for Sophie.
"She was like, 'Mom, I really want to help these people,' '' Gallagher said. "I finally started thinking maybe I need to take a cue from someone who is not seeing this through the same filters I am."
Sophie was so tenacious about wanting to give blankets and stuffed animals to the homeless that Vanessa finally sent out an e-mail to a few family and friends asking if anyone wanted to help Sophie.
And with that, Blankets and Bears was born.
Sophie has collected about 100 warm winter blankets and stuffed animals for homeless people, and will hand them over to Front Steps and the Salvation Army this week.
"It was so cold outside," Sophie said. "I didn't want them to freeze and get sick, and if you stay out in the cold too long you might get sick."
She wanted to get stuffed animals for the children because she knows how comforting a teddy bear can be.
"I knew they would be cold and the kids would want something to snuggle with," Sophie said.
Vanessa says she thought she was teaching Sophie a lesson about compassion by sending out that e-mail. Instead, she says, Sophie both learned and taught a lesson about giving.
"I think the spirit of a child wanting to help had kind of inspired us to want to do better," she said.
"I thought if we get 10 blankets or bears together, it's not going to make a huge impact, but it'll be something, and it'll show Sophie that little kids can do big things, and everything helps," she said. "But then when we got almost 50 blanket and 50 bears, we were just stunned at the outpouring.''
To contribute to Blankets and Bears, contact the Gallaghers at: vfgallagher@gmail.com.
