Beanie Babies help soothe kids in Hays County

Back in 2007, Dripping Springs resident Jimmy Winkler had a great idea. It would soon become a reality and ultimately became a tradition in Dripping Springs and all of Hays County. Winkler initiated a program that would help soothe innocent children who fell victim to a tragedy such as car accidents and domestic abuse, with Beanie Babies.

Winkler was retired from “building big buildings, big airports, all over the state,” he said. “I’m from Houston and have been here since ’83, when there was no beer and one blinking light.” He wanted to do something for his adopted town of Dripping Springs and especially for children and first responders both.

A lot of times, especially in terms of domestic violence, all the child observes is the arrest. The child will only remember that it was the police who hauled one or both parents off.

By putting a Beanie Baby in their hand, they have something else to concentrate on instead of focusing on the situation and blaming the police. The kids have their minds on a new toy.

Winkler remembers as an EMT in Houston when he witnessed first-hand, the impact the stuffed animals have on kids. Locally, it’s the same scenario. There was a three-car accident at U.S. 290 and Sunset Valley. The accident looked horrible. Three kids were in one vehicle and all were thrown around and were scared. One of the kids suffered a broken arm. After receiving the Beanie Babies, all three calmed down until the ambulance arrived.

When it comes to EMTs, Police, Sheriff and Fire Departments, “anything we can do to give them more tools in their saddle makes their jobs in the community more pleasant,” said Winkler. “It puts the idea in the kid’s head that policemen and firemen are good.”

A great idea, but how to collect all those Beanie Babies was the next big question. He had been collecting them for a few years and the next step was to get the youth involved. He has worked with students at Dripping Springs High School. Getting students to buy into the plan came at the right time as their ‘Day of Service’ proved that students were community-oriented and wanted to help out others.

“I wanted to keep it driven--a leader from the National Honor Society to lead the group and put the challenge out there, what school would collect the most Beanie Babies?” Winkler said.

This year’s challenge leader was NHS member and senior Hannah Mitchell. Even in this pandemic, 2008 Beanie Babies were collected. The big problem that arose was finding a storage facility during the lockdown. Even for being small in size, 2008 Beanie Babies can take up quite a bit of space.

As usual, family comes first. Mitchell’s parents, Karen and Richard Mitchell supported their daughter’s efforts. “My parents helped out by keeping all the toys and counting them at home. The hardest part was picking them up and collecting them from the other schools,” Hannah said.

Hannah is now a Dripping Springs graduate and on her way to Texas Tech to study Chemical Engineering in the fall. Due to the virus, the new DSHS Beanie Baby leader will be chosen after the high school year begins.

As for the more than 2000 Beanie Babies? They will go into the hands of Hays County First Responders to then be placed into the tiny hands of children who need them, at a time of crisis and tragedy.