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 Linda Thomas
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Emilie.jpg
Six-year-old Emilie Parker was one of the 20 children who died in massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary. Emilie's father, Robbie Parker, released this photo to the press because it's his favorite picture of his little girl, and it's how he wants to remember her. Memorial funds are being set up for many of the victims' families. (Photo courtesy Emilie Parker Fund)

Send a bear, sign a card. How to help the people of Newtown

December 17, 2012 @ 8:02 pm (Updated: 5:25 am - 12/18/12 )

Helpless, but not hopeless.

Many are wondering what they can to do show they care about the people who lost little loved ones in the Sandy Hook Elementary massacre.

From a Ballard mom sending teddy bears to Connecticut, to signing a national sympathy card, here are some ways to help those who are grieving.

An online national sympathy card through Causes.com has more than 1.4 million signatures.

The card to the Community of Newtown, Connecticut, including the families of the victims and the survivors and their families begins:

Our Sincere Condolences.

We wish to express our deepest sympathies to all of the families of those lost, to the survivors and their families, and to the others impacted by the senseless and unthinkable tragedy that unfolded at Sandy Hook Elementary School. We cannot begin to comprehend the depth of your sadness and grief. Please know that we care deeply for you and we join with you in sharing your sorrow and pain. We only hope that you receive some measure of comfort in the knowledge that we, and an entire nation, stand with you during this extraordinarily difficult time.

Our thoughts and prayers are with you.

David Paine is the man behind the simple idea of sending a national sympathy card. He is the co-founder of 9/11 Day.

If you are inclined to donate money, there are several funds set up including the Newtown Memorial Fund.

The family of Sandy Hook Elementary's principal, Dawn Hochsprung, created a memorial fund for the educator who died trying to stop the gunman.

Dawn Lafferty Hochsprung Memorial Fund

CT Teachers Credit Union

P.O. Box 2121

Waterbury, CT 06722

Families have also set up funds on behalf of their children who died. In some cases the funds will help the families financially so they can take off work to grieve and bury their children. Others plan to use the funds to create scholarships in their children's names.

The family of Olivia Engel, 6, created the Friends of the Engel Family Fund.

The family of Emilie Parker, 6, Emilie Parker Fund.

The family of Noah Pozner, 6, created Noah's Ark of Hope Fund to provide counseling, education and basic needs for his four siblings.

A Ballard mother wants to send a teddy bear to every child at Sandy Hook Elementary.

Hollie Butler, who has a 7-year-old daughter and 10-year-old son, says she felt "completely devastated" following the mass shooting.

"Teddy bears are a familiar and much beloved symbol of comfort in childhood. This fundraiser seeks to raise enough money to buy a brown stuffed bear for every child at the school, as a gesture of collective support," Butler writes.

"The children who have survived this experience are going to live with the memory for the rest of their lives. They will have to find a way to trust the world again, to be a kid again. Let's give them something to carry with them," she says.

With more than 600 children attending Sandy Hook Elementary, the family hopes to raise $10,000 to fund the A bear for every child.

Butler tells me so far 23 people have donated $875 to the effort.

By LINDA THOMAS

More from Linda Thomas

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Comments (13)


  • Add A Comment

  • messiah101 wrote...
    If you REALLY want to do something to help the people of Newtown
    December 17, 2012 8:52 pm
    Get active in some COMMON SENSE gun control as well as telling your Congressman and senators that your fed up with the slaughter of your fellow Americans and expect them to work toward a overall solution to the problem.Teddy Bears??? Are these people serious??Be careful of anyone who wants donations. The Feds as well as the State of Connecticut will ensure that every need is met for these poor folks in Newtown.I be afraid to sign any card as your name will likely go on a suckerlist that will be sold and you will be harassed by every organization looking for a hand out.Nice thought but look before you leap
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  • ron prevost wrote...
    BLEEP YOU, messiah
    December 18, 2012 5:01 am
    I would be very sure Linda DID NOT put up this post for YOU to vent your ideologies.

    Tell you what, considering you are so cold and suspicious. Watch out for the MYNW blogs. For all you know, YOU (messiah, yes you) have had your name forwarded to a scam agency every time you post. ..... Think about that in your paranoia.

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  • messiah101 wrote...
    ron p
    December 18, 2012 7:51 am
    Do a little research on David Paine of the 9/11 day group and get back to me. The tax return for his group is available on line. Read it and tell me he is making good use of money donated to his group
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  • Shplunker wrote...
    idiot Troll Messyasse
    December 18, 2012 6:34 am
    do you spend all your time whacking off to an Obama poster? Probably the same guy showing his junk to the little ones waiting to see Santa.
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  • messiah101 wrote...
    Shplunker, Call me old school
    December 19, 2012 9:11 am
    But I prefer my Farrah Fawcet poster
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  • ron prevost wrote...
    A bear for every child - it IS Christmas
    December 18, 2012 5:15 am
    With 20 of their classmates stolen forever from their lives, those other kids need a reminder of normalcy. A reminder that life still goes on - and that Christmas is still Christmas. Certainly the youngest, but maybe also the 4th graders, believe in Santa Clause.

    This, despite all, is still that magic time of the year when children's dreams can come true. .... And we, all of us who can be Santa, can help.

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  • 0623 wrote...
    unbelivable!
    December 18, 2012 7:38 am
    These people who use this tragedy to exhibit their vile, misanthropic outlook are just out of this world. Messiah101 is right. Money and energy devoted to changing America's culture of violence is the only sensible way to help.
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  • It's me! Ha ha! wrote...
    An other part of this tragedy is that Left wing Parrots like Messaih
    December 18, 2012 8:22 am
    have been hoping and praying (to their Dear Leader) for an event like this to happen and then end private gun ownership in America.

    Am I politicizing this tragedy? No! Not me. It already has been by Anti gun nut jobs! I know the answer is not removing inanimate objects. No gun of any kind ever loaded itself removed the safety and pulled it's own trigger.

    An answer exists. That answer is not punishing law abiding citizens. An action that Liberals love to do to us Americans!

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  • 0623 wrote...
    @shplunker, ron prevost, it's me, haha et al
    December 18, 2012 8:57 am
    Peace on earth, to you, too, guys.
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  • It's me! Ha ha! wrote...
    Merry Christmas
    December 18, 2012 11:23 am
    0623
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  • ron prevost wrote...
    peace and joy be to you
    December 18, 2012 3:49 pm
    Happy Christmas
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  • flipper wrote...
    If you really want to do something...
    December 18, 2012 2:32 pm
    ...get folks the mental health help they need. When they're acting out or "being weird" make it easier to do an involuntary 72 commitment. This was a crazy person who had access to guns that were purchased LEGALLY. The real person (not gun) at fault here is the mother who had by all accounts a unstable problem child in her house, and likely didn't have her guns in a secured gun safe.
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  • messiah101 wrote...
    flipper
    December 19, 2012 9:10 am
    In defense of the mother she had a 20 yr old adult living with her who had a mental condition but no arrests for any violent acts.The guns may have been in a locked storage but perhaps the Son had access to the key.I doubt if her Knives and hammers were kept from the son either
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