SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — Nearly one week after historic flash floods devastated Texas Hill Country, a San Diego-based nonprofit is helping bring comfort to those affected by the tragedy.
At least 120 people are confirmed dead, and 150 others are still missing after catastrophic flooding swept through the region.
The Comfort Cub, a local nonprofit founded 25 years ago by grieving mother Marcella Johnson, has sent 200 therapeutic weighted teddy bears to Kerrville, Texas, to help those coping with trauma and loss.
Chaplain Tony Dickey of the United Cajun Navy and Alabama Association of Rescue Squads is distributing the bears along the banks of the Guadalupe River, where search and recovery efforts continue.
"Miles and miles and miles of this river that extends all the way down through to South Texas area," Dickey said, pointing to broken trees and debris still hanging in the aftermath of the floods.
Dickey arrived in Texas shortly after the floodwaters hit, responding to a call for chaplain services.
"I, as a chaplain, was called in to work with the families and the first responders," Dickey said.
The weighted bears he carries are specifically designed to provide therapeutic comfort to those experiencing trauma.
"They're not a toy," Dickey explained. "They are therapeutic medical supplies that we use for mental health purposes."
Dickey first learned about the Comfort Cubs from Johnson, who was in Uvalde after the deadly mass school shooting. Now, he's brought the therapy bears to those suffering in Texas.
When asked about a recent recipient of a Comfort Cub, Dickey became emotional.
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"This is a tough one," Dickey said. "When we give a comfort cub to a child, it's always special, but particularly to a child who just lost their brother or their sister. And I just received a photo of that child lying there hugging this comfort cub and smiling."
While Dickey cannot share photos of the families he's helping, he notes that the bears are bringing comfort to people of all ages – children, adults and seniors – all coping with unimaginable loss.
"There was a mother who just lost her son," Dickey said. "She lost her daughter-in-law and lost her grandkids. They haven't been recovered. She just lost two generations of her family."
Despite being surrounded by suffering, Dickey sees the weighted bears as a way to provide some measure of solace.
"This is what we're here to do," Dickey said. "We're here to give you hope."
