 | ||
Photo: Dagmar Fliege
When German drycleaner Hans von Korff
heard that as many as 7,000 children lost their parents in the
World Trade Center attack, he wanted to help. In discussing the
situation with his wife, Dagmar, and employees at his plant, an
idea was hatched. The company could help raise money for the
children of New York City while involving the children of
Germany and doing something nice for them, too.
The offer was made: beginning Nov. 11 and
running through Dec. 8, von Korff’s would clean children’s
teddy bears and other stuffed animals in exchange for a
donation of 2.50 Marks (about $1.15 ). All the money raised
will be sent to New York where it will be distributed as needed
for children there who are suffering a loss. Since von Korff’s
has 140 drop-off locations in the Meschede area, the prospects
for a successful fund-raiser are good. They got a boost with
strong publicity in the press.
With this program, German children will
have a way to help their counterparts in New York and be
rewarded by having their favorite stuffed animals get the
famous “restored to like new” treatment by von
Korff’s. The 72-year-old company has a strong reputation in the
preservation and restoration field, not to mention its exacting
standards in general cleaning. Although the stuffed animals may
not belong to the same realm of priceless antiques that von
Korff has restored in the past, they are nonetheless priceless
to their young owners.
Midway through the project, Hans von Korff
reported that “we are working, working, working and
cleaning many, many bears.”
Most of the cleaning is being done by
hand, he says, and requires great care.
“After cleaning by hand, we work
with the steam gun, then we dry the bear. When the bears are
dry, we work with the air gun. After that process, Teddy Bear
is looking brand new,” von Korff said.
He was expecting a radio station to come
by soon and report on the project, generating more publicity.
But the media is not the only means of inciting interest. Von
Korff said when a mother with her three kids was in store
recently, the children saw the stuffed animals being cleaned
and exclaimed “Mom, Monday I will bring my Oscar!”
 |