NEW ORLEANS – For the third consecutive year, the NOPD is partnering with Arnaud’s Restaurant and the New Orleans Police and Justice Foundation (NOPJF) for its annual teddy bear drive where NOPD officers will be given the opportunity to hand over a fuzzy, stuffed animal to a child they encounter while responding to calls on duty.
The NOPD is encouraging all community members to get involved and donate a new or unused teddy bear or fuzzy animal to any of the designated collection sites, which can be seen below. At the end of the collection period on Saturday, Dec. 31, all stuffed animals will be given to the New Orleans and the Baton Rouge police departments. Bears will then be placed in officers vehicles where they will distributed them to children they encounter that have been victimized or have gone through a traumatic experience like a car accident.
“The success of this program lies in the impact we are making on the community and local youth,” NOPD Superintendent Michael Harrison said. “Our officers are as grateful for passing out the teddy bears as the kids receiving them, and that’s all thanks to our partners at Arnaud’s Restaurant and NOPJF who make that possible.”
Arnaud’s restaurant owners started the teddy bear drive back in 2014 after noticing the program in other states, and since then they’ve collected more than 2,000 stuffed animals for law enforcement officers to hand out.
“Sometimes there’s just that little touch of comfort and little small measure that you can extend to somebody going through a crisis that can make a big difference in setting them at ease and making them feel better,” Archie Casbarian, owner of Arnaud’s restaurant, said. “We think that this is a great program to do that.”
Below are a list of collections sites that are currently collecting bears and animals:
New Orleans Police Department Headquarters
715 S. Broad Ave.
New Orleans, LA 70119
8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Monday – Friday
New Orleans Police and Justice Foundation (NOPJF)
400 Poydras St., Suite 2105
New Orleans, LA 70130
9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., Monday – Friday
New Orleans Convention and Visitors Bureau
2020 St. Charles Ave. (lobby)
New Orleans, LA 70130
8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Monday – Friday
Energy Centre
1100 Poydras St. (lobby)
New Orleans, LA 70163
During normal business hours
Arnaud’s Restaurant
813 Bienville St.
New Orleans, LA 70112
During normal business hours
Watch a video about the NOPD partnering with Arnaud's Restaurant for the Third Annual Teddy Bear Drive.
