Time Out Teddy comforts children in bad situations

ALBANY – On the football field, coaches and quarterbacks use a timeout to think through a crucial situation or play and use that time to consider and make the best decision.

In that spirit, the Exchange Club of Albany hopes Time Out Teddy bears will give children and their parents a reminder to take time to consider their actions before rushing into a bad choice.

The National Exchange Club made child abuse its national project in 1979, said Albany club member Gary Knight, and Time Out Teddy is the face of that endeavor.

“Time Out Teddy originally was created directly to help with the prevention of child abuse,” he said. “What you’re doing is telling the parent or caregiver or even the child to take time out before you do anything that may be harmful.”

The Exchange Club still distributes the bears for that purpose, but also passes them out to police to use to comfort children who are going through a traumatic situation. On Wednesday, the Albany club provided some of the toy bears to the Dougherty County Sheriff’s Office and on Thursday followed up with the Albany Police Department.

“We give them to first responders and tell them to use it at their discretion,” Knight said. “We use the Time Out Teddy as a resource for our first responders by providing them with Time Out Teddy bears to distribute to domestic disturbance calls, automobile accidents or any way they determine that may comfort a child. The Exchange Club of Albany strongly supports our law enforcement and all first responders.”

Albany Exchange Club members also use their Time Out Teddy to help other clubs.

“The costume we use costs $600,” Knight said. “Some clubs don’t have the money, so we are offering ours. We travel all over the state to give out bears to law enforcement.”

The 40-year-old project has shown a great deal of success, Knight said. In the future, he said, the club hopes to distribute the bears to emergency medical service personnel.

“I think it has a huge impact,” he said. “It’s going to have an impact on children who are in a bad situation. That’s what this program is about.”

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