DA's Child support Services office sponsored annual program
St. Andrews School 6th grader Morgan Dewberry loves sports, art and stuffed animals.
One thing she doesn’t so much enjoy is speaking to large groups.
But when given the opportunity to help children at The Children’s Hospital at Memorial University Medical Center presented itself, she jumped right in.
This years for the first time since her 2nd and 3rd grade years, Morgan collected more than 140 stuffed animals donated by her school mates and delivered to the Waters Avenue medical center as part of Chatham County District Attorney Meg Heap and her office of Child Support Services’ adopted agency annual campaign.
DA Office spokesman Daniel Baxter praised Morgan’s work.
“Morgan deserves praise for the selfless generosity of her time and efforts in ensuring that children receiving medical attention at The Children’s Hospital at Memorial … have a reason to smile,” he said.
The project, a Georgia Department of Human Services Bearable Hugs Program, accepts donations of teddy bears and other stuffed animals from community members and distributes them around Valentine’s Day to children receiving care at pediatric facilities, women’s and homeless shelters, law enforcement agencies and other children’s organization in the region and throughout Georgia
Morgan is no stranger to the effort, having received accolades for her volunteerism with the project in the past, Baxter said.
Morgan’s mother, Kelly Grenchik, said the 12-year-old Savannah native participated in the program during her 2nd and 3rd grades, but put it on the back burner until this year.
Part of her participation is it is a way to overcome her reluctance to speak to large groups, her mother said.
As part of her participation this year, Morgan had to address some 400 fellow students and pulled it off without a hitch.
“She’s kind of shy,” Grenchik said. “She’s real soft spoken and quiet.”
For the kids at Memorial, Morgan’s and her fellow school mates actions speak volumes.