So, How a Beanie Baby Dog Saved Service Members? We decided to fly out of Chicago to cut costs on our trip after visiting the American Legion and American Legion Auxiliary. When we travel, we try to meet up with the groups we work with, so we connected with Zoeie from Support Over Stigma.

Zoeie’s non-profit Support Over Stigma’s (SoS) mission is simple, to save live – one hero at a time. Through education, outreach, and support, SoS equipes our military, veterans, first responders, and their families, with the tools and resources they need to overcome their mental health and service-related challenges. Throughout her time, Zoeie has seen too many people try to end their lives or hear that someone has completed suicide because of the stigma associated with talking about mental health. While visiting, she told us about a story about an SoS Care Package.

Setting the stage it’s important to know that all kinds of things go in care packages aside from the typical snacks and personal care items depending on where someone is and what they need. We’ve seen fly traps and tape, electric bikes, and some other fun and interesting things go into care packages. Care package items are sometimes shared with locals to build relationships. That being said, Zoeie told us about a care package that was sent with a stuffed dog, Beanie Baby. The Beanie Baby dog was given to a young boy who had always wanted a dog by a service member. One day, the service members were in their Humvee and the young boy stepped in front of the vehicle with the dog over his shoulder, refusing to move. The service member was annoyed because he needed to get on the road to follow his orders, but the boy would not move. He kept trying to get the boy to move by motioning due to some of the language barriers, and the boy would not move, so he threw something out past the Humvee to get the boy’s attention, trying to get him to move. When the item hit the ground, there was an explosion. Had the boy moved, the Humvee would have driven right over the explosive device, and that team would likely not be here today. I never thought about the power of a Beanie Baby. It is not one of the items I would have thought to send, but that care package with that Beanie Baby dog most definitely saved lives because it bridged a bond between that boy and that service member.

One of the many stories we’ve hear about how care packages  literally save lives.