BURRILLVILLE – A Buckleupallofus Car Seat Check Up Showcase at the Warwick Mall this past week was a huge success. The weather was perfect on Thursday, May 20, and many little kids are now safer in their vehicle backseats thanks to the efforts of Hasbro Children’s Hospital, 4-Safety Organization, Safe Kids RI, the Rhode Island State Police, Providence Police Department, Smithfield Police Department and Tiverton Police Department, just to name a few from a long list of participating departments that dispatched officers.
Everyone was very knowledgeable and helpful with all of the parents arriving to have car seats checked for proper installation. Some car seats actually needed to be replaced with new car seats because they were not safe. Of course, all of the little kids just had to run up and give the Giant Bucky Balloon a big hug – or, his feet anyway. He’s way too big for a real hug by little kids. The character helps to keep kids occupied while police officers and safety techs remove and install car seats.
Police officers and event volunteers also passed out Bucky coloring posters and stickers to every child. The showcase is out and about in communities across New England every year handing out Bucky coloring posters, coloring books, educational materials and products to thousands of parents and kids.
Child Passenger Safety is a real concern that needs constant community education and awareness to help reduce unintended injuries and fatalities on our roadways. Police officers from across the state have asked if Buckleupallofus Giant Balloon could showcase at their upcoming community events and kids safety days, and if he could bring all of his great child safety take home items so their police departments could hand them out. With the assistance from the non-profit Children Across America and college student Bucky Safety Events volunteers, those requests will be satisfied.
It looks like Bucky’s demand is growing significantly, and thanks to every police department partnership with his child safety messages, more children will be safer in their daily lives.
Jim Weicherding is a Burrillville resident, and the founder and creator of an award-winning traffic safety effort Seasons of Safety. Weicherding contributes kids’ coloring cartoons, which can be printed and used to help parents discuss safety issues with their children. He has a long list of police officers and firefighters in his family and has worked with law enforcement and firefighters in a creative public safety capacity for more than two decades.
