GUILDERLAND — While most seven-year-olds play with toys on their birthdays, Guilderland’s Sarah Mahar gave her presents this year to the Western Turnpike Rescue Squad.

Sarah, whose birthday was last Thursday when she spoke to The Enterprise, brought several boxes of stuffed animals to the rescue squad with a little help from her mom, Mary Mahar.

And this isn’t her first charitable contribution either.

Sarah and her two friends, Victoria Keating and Erin Pratt, gathered and donated books to the Saint Madeleine Sophie School’s library in memory of Lindsey Plant, a third-grader who died suddenly late last Spring.
"Today’s her birthday," Mary Mahar said of her daughter on Thursday, "and she took all of her presents and the stuffed animals she got from friends and family and we brought them down here.
"The three girls are all Girl Scouts together and they brainstorm together," Mahar added about the girls’ charitable contributions.

With a constant smile, Sarah excitedly skipped around the ambulance with her little brother, Nick, before rescue workers Gerard Burgess and Paul Deyss brought over the boxes of various brightly-colored stuffed animals.

Sarah was allowed to sit on the stretcher inside of the ambulance, and, of course, every kid’s favorite part, sound the siren, after dropping off her donation.

The stuffed animals are stored in the ambulances and given to children and even the occasional adult, according to Howard Huth of the rescue squad’s board of directors.
"Every ambulance has two or three stuffed animals inside and the kid’s job is basically to name the stuffed animal before the ride is over," said Huth. "Mostly kids won’t let you go near them. The stuffed animals provide for a good patient communication tool."

Huth said the stuffed animals also work well with elderly patients suffering from dementia because of their tactile characteristics.

The animals are also used on other adults, too, like, say a New York Giant.

Huth told The Enterprise that during the Giants’ summer training camp at the University at Albany, one football player was taken to the hospital by the rescue squad.
"Sometimes the adults who act like kids get them," said Huth. "A New York Giant was given a bear."
The football player, whom Huth did not name, was in "obvious pain," and was given a bear so he could take out his aggressions on something other than the walls of the ambulance. The stuffed animals can be practical, but they can also be used for humor to smooth over stressful situations, said Huth.
"They’re a very effective tool," he said, before repeatedly thanking Sarah for her generous toy donations. Huth added that he encourages everyone to give back to their community by volunteering time, money, or donations to their local rescue squads.