Oswegatchie Elementary School fifth-grader Bella Broughton recently collected about 300 stuffed animals for local first responders to give to children in need.

Broughton, 10, said she came up with the idea after she was in a car crash and had to be transported to the hospital by ambulance. During the ride, she received a stuffed animal.

“It really helped me calm down when I was in the ambulance,” she said, “so I started collecting them for ambulances that don’t have stuffed animals.”

For the drive, she and her mother, Victoria, made three ambulance-shaped donation boxes to put at her school, Quaker Hill Elementary School and Waterford Town Hall. By the end of the drive, which ran in November and December, they had the equivalent of five boxes full of donated toys, which were distributed to Waterford, East Lyme and New London.

“They went to fire trucks, ambulances as well as the police cars,” Victoria said. “It went to every first responder so whoever was on scene first, they were prepared.”

Bella is a seasoned donation drive coordinator, having collected items for animal shelters and area hospitals. She was featured in “Unselfish Kids,” a collection of stories about kids making impacts in their communities through charitable acts, and the authors of the book donated a copy to every class at her school.

Kindness in Real Life is a regular feature in The Times. To submit, email times@theday.com.