Sitting in a pile of teddy bears she started collecting in June, 10-year old Lilly Delahanty beamed a smile a few days before Christmas at the Children’s Advocacy Center of Grays Harbor in Montesano. Pinned to her sweater was an official VFW name badge that read, “Lilly Delahanty, Teddy Bear Officer, Montesano 2455.”

“She collects them throughout the year and gives them to police stations, fire stations, anywhere a child might be scared and need something to hold on to,” said Lilly’s mother Ciara Brough, also a member of Montesano’s VFW Auxiliary.

The bears were delivered to the center in Montesano Thursday morning. The center’s staff is dedicated to helping children who have been victims of child abuse and neglect, facilitating a child focused approach to the prevention, investigation, intervention, prosecution and treatment of child abuse and neglect. Sue Bucy is the executive director, Nickie Till, the administrative assistant, and Mike Clark is the forensic interviewer. Clark is the one who talks to the victims of child abuse; the teddy bears, thanks to Lilly, are there to calm traumatized children who come to the center for help.

(DAN HAMMOCK|THE DAILY WORLD) Official Teddy Bear Officer for the Montesano VFW Auxiliary Lilly Delahanty sits among the teddy bears she started collecting in June. The bears were donated Thursday to the Children’s Advocacy Center of Grays Harbor in Montesano and will be used to calm children who are victims of child abuse and neglect.