For the past two years, children in the local foster care system have been the recipients of gifts of stuffed animals, thanks to the work of a Michigan business and a local children’s advocate.
The Xander Bunny Project is named after Xander, the adopted son of Vic and Vickie Bennett, the founders of Lavender Life Company, which is based in western Michigan. Their experiences motivated them to start the Xander Bunny Project.
“For every bunny we sell, we could place one in the hands of a child in the foster care system,” they said in a blog post explaining the project. “As we fill each bunny, we pray for the little “Xander” that may someday receive it; we pray for families in trauma, that they can get their feet back under them; we pray for families to consider fostering to provide a safe temporary home: and we pray for some to open their hearts to adopt.”
The project’s connection to Greene County dates to March of 2020, when Tammy Watson, an employee at Greene County Children and Youth Services, was searching for stuffed animals to gift to her grandchildren. During her shopping, she came across the Lavender Life Company and watched a video explaining some of the charity work they do through their business.
“The video touched my heart and motivated me to reach out to the owners Vic and Vickie Bennett of Lavender Life Farms in West Michigan to see how we could get these Xander bunnies to our child and youth agencies that deal with children in foster care in Greene, Fayette and Washington counties,” Watson says. “I also reached out to two other agencies in Morgantown, WV.”
In total, the Xander Bunny Project partnered with five local agencies. They started by sending a shipment of bunnies, which Watson stored in her garage and distributed to the individual agencies. Two years later in early 2022, Watson heard from an agency that said that they were beginning to run out of bunnies.
“I assumed that meant a lot of them needed more,” she says.
Watson reached out to the Xander Bunny project, and they sent even more than they did in 2020. This time, they shipped a tractor trailer full.
“I couldn’t get that in my garage or driveway,” she says.
The costs of shipping that many stuffed animals were covered by a donation from her son in law’s company, New Way Excavating. CASA of Greene County assembled and stored the individual care bags, which include a stuffed bunny, a lavender aromatherapy spray and a card with information about the Xander Bunny Project.
According to Watson, the stuffed animals can represent a small piece of stability for children in the foster care system. They also assist workers in connecting with children.
“The bunnies are such a great icebreaker for children in foster care when a caseworker is meeting with a child,” she said.
Almost all the stuffed animals from the most recent shipment have been delivered to various local agencies. Only one batch remains, and that one will be sent to Fayette County Youth Services.
For Watson, the project offers everyone a way to get involved and help foster children everywhere.
“It started with a grandmother looking for stuffed bunnies and ended with a partnership with an organization that walks the walk,” she said. “Everyone can be a part of this project. If you buy one a child in foster care gets it.”
