Humboldt’s “hugs” are en route to the U.S./Mexico border. 

A couple weeks back Arcata-based Project Hugs put the word out that they’d be collecting stuffed animals to send south to some of the thousands of immigrant children still detained in Homeland Security detention centers.

Humboldt came through big time. More from Project Hugs below:

Close to 800 stuffed animals were donated by the Humboldt community the week and a half prior to the 4th of July to be sent down to Southern California for distribution to detention centers holding immigrant children. 

 

Project Hugs got the word out quickly to local media and on social media, and the results were overwhelming.  Initially, two boxes were set up at Arcata City Hall as a drop-off location.  On July 2nd , the huge pile of donated stuffies were bagged up and transferred to the loading dock behind the North Coast Co-op in Arcata.  They were then piled onto a pallet and wrapped up for delivery.

On Tuesday, July 3rd, the bulging pile of soft, huggable toys were picked up by Veritable Vegetable, an organic produce distributor who volunteered to transport the pile of love and good will to Los Angeles.  The Women’s March Foundation of Los Angeles, who also collected donated items including personal hygiene items, is an approved distributor to detention centers in Southern California. 

Project Hugs is a community response to the crisis surrounding immigrant children who are detained near the US/Mexican border. 

Stories by major news outlets have reported that children who have been separated from their parents are not allowed to hug each other for comfort, and are not able to be hugged by those who are providing care and supervision.  Although hugs cannot be offered to these children from up here in northern California, community members donated soft, stuffed animals for hugging which may bring some comfort to the children.