Big-Hearted little girl Bronte Henfling hopes to cheer up the Sendong child victims in Cagayan de Oro and Iligan this Valentine’s Day with over a thousand plushies that she and her parents George and Megan (far left) collected from people around the world

MANILA, Philippines — This Valentine’s Day, the children who lost their parents and relatives to typhoon Sendong in Cagayan de Oro (CDO) and Iligan in Mindanao will find some love and comfort in over a thousand stuffed toys that have come from all over the world.

The stuffed toys, numbering to about 2,500 as of this writing, are part of a toy drive that is being organized by Bronte Worthy Henfling, a seven-year-old Australian-American girl, and her parents George and Megan, in collaboration with the Black Pencil Project (BPP).

IN THE EYES OF A LITTLE GIRL

Bronte, a smart and vibrant little girl, has been on vacation in the country since November, accompanying her father who is the location manager of the Hollywood film “Bourne Legacy.” When the typhoon happened last December, Bronte saw in the news the great devastation, the agony and grief of the victims, and felt bad for the helpless children.

Right then and there, she told her parents about her desire to help them. She just didn’t know how.

Fortunately, her dad George saw a poster of the Black Pencil Project toy donation for Sendong child victims. The idea came from writer and grief counselor Cathy Guballa who is partnering with BPP on this project.

The Henflings decided to adopt the idea for their own project. Bronte made a touching video about the Sendong victims where she tearfully appealed to kindhearted people from around the world to donate new and used stuffed toys for the victims.

The video showed photos of the tragedy in CDO and Iligan and the victims as well as the plushies that Bronte intends to give to the children. “Imagine if you were there, you’ve lost everything, you’ve lost your parents, your house, your sisters and your toys, how would you feel? You’d feel sad woudn’t you? You’d feel sad and heartbroken.

It’s because a toy is like someone’s life to a little child,” Bronte says in the video which was taken in the hotel room of the Mandarin Oriental in Makati, where the family is billeted.

She then uploaded the video on YouTube. Not surprisingly, this drew global attention to the project.

“I felt really sad for all the children. After the news was over, I felt that if it happened to me, how would I feel and I realized it’s like a horrible feeling to lose something you’re attached to, like my stuffed toy Frank,” shares Bronte, a second grader at the Beverly Vista School in Beverly Hills, California.

Megan says the head mistress in Bronte’s school was the first to respond to her plea and have collected plushies from the students.

At present, new and old toys as well as monetary donations are coming from the UK, Japan, Canada, the Philippines, Europe and Australia.

The cash donations will be used to buy more plushies for the kids. Initially, Bronte was just hoping to raise 1,000 stuffed toys but in less than a week after she made the video, she already got 900. In two weeks, it grew to 2,500. Now her target is 3,000.

Mandarin Oriental Communications director Charisse Chuidian says the hotel is also supporting this toy drive and is currently housing the toys under the Tree of Love in its MO Lounge until its distribution to the affected areas. It has also volunteered to provide free dry cleaning services for the used toys.

TOYS FOR HEALING

While Bronte did not experience any misfortune or similar tragedy, the little girl still found a way to relate and empathize with the children.

“Plush toys have been proven to be very effective in treating children. While it cannot really replace their loved ones who perished in the tragedy, the plushies will somehow help in the healing process. It works in any situation and it can be a replacement for a sibling, a mother, a grandfather, or a best friend. So it resonates with us very deeply knowing Bronte’s attachment to Frank and how we want those children to find comfort in those toys,” Megan reasons.

Megan says the first batch of toys will be sent to a therapy center in CDO where doctors use plushies to help treat children with post traumatic stress disorders. The second batch of toys, which are mostly used toys from Bronte’s schoolmates, will be personally distributed by Megan and her daughter this month. She says the trip will be chronicled from the time the toys were given away by their owners, to its journey to the Philippines and all the way to the evacuation centers where its new owners are excitedly waiting.

“We will even show photos of Bronte meeting the children. I think this will really be a good lesson for the children back home who willingly donated and surrendered their beloved toys just to be able to make another child smile again,” she says.

Bronte’s parents are happy that their only child is growing up to be such a kind-hearted individual who can very much relate to those who have little, despite having almost everything.

“In this world, as much as possible you don’t want to expose your kids too much. There are so many things that are completely out of balance right now. But for Bronte and the kids in general, through a very light degree, you have to let them know that there’s a bigger world out there. Some kids don’t have the same things that you have and it could be a whole lot worse than the way they have it right now,” says George.

George and Megan would like to credit Bronte’s rich and varied experiences in the 17 countries that she has been to, to what she is growing up to be.

Megan, a writer, is now closely working with her daughter to share these experiences in a children’s travel book series. Last year, they launched their first book called “Bronte and Frank go to Moscow.’’

They hope to do another book about Bronte’s experiences in the Philippines, as well as about the little project that is set to make many children happy on this day of hearts.