The Corpus Christi Police Department, Corpus Christi Fire Department, and Driscoll Children’s Hospital received a load of stuffed animals from high schools from all over Texas on Friday at the DECA state conference at the American Bank Center.

The Distributive Educational Clubs of America (DECA) organization had a state conference in Corpus Christi this past week. The purpose of DECA is to prepare emerging leaders and entrepreneurs for careers in marketing, finance, hospitality and management in high schools and colleges. The participating schools raised money to buy and construct stuffed animals from the “Build A Bear” company for the purpose to donate the bears to the Corpus Christi Police Department, the Corpus Christi Fire Department, and to Driscoll Children’s Hospital.

The bears were staged at the American Bank Center with a fire truck, police patrol car, and an ambulance while a representative from the Police Department, Fire Department, and Driscoll Children’s Hospital delivered a message of gratitude to the students for the generous donation.

The Corpus Christi Police Department received 100 bears and intend to use them to provide comfort to victims of traumatic events. This donation will offer comfort directly to victims of traumatic events by police.The Corpus Christi Police Department thanks the DECA organization for their generous donation and kind offer to help members of our community who need comfort most.