Eric Will, branch manager of Dollar Bank in Point Plaza, Butler Township, shows stuffed animals collected for fire departments to give to children who are victims of emergencies. The effort is called the “FireHouse Fluffies” program.

A lot of customers at Dollar Bank in Point Plaza in Butler Township have been bringing stuffed animals with them when they show up to do their banking.

In just three weeks their donations have filled more than four garbage bags with stuffed critters that will eventually be distributed to Butler County emergency responders to give to children following the trauma of a fire, accident or other emergency.

The “Firehouse Fluffies” program was started by Helping Butler County in mid-March.

“Right now, the tentative plan is that we're going to provide at least two dozen stuffed animals to every fire department and/or EMS in the county,” said Scott Dittman, who runs Helping Butler County. . “It will require almost 2,000 stuffed animals to cover the whole county.”

He said stuffed animals must be new to be donated.

No deadline has been set for making donations.

Fire departments will be asked to contact Helping Butler County to get more stuffed animals when their supplies run low.

Read the full story in Monday's Butler Eagle.