At our Life Member Luncheon August 7th Douglas County Sheriff Tim Dunning took time out of his schedule to attend our luncheon and thank Marcy and Steve Dawkins and the Heartland Pioneers for the great work that they do with the Hug-A-Bears in our community.  He said that time and time again when tragedy or disaster happens they have the Bears to give to the children in their time of need. For a number of years now Marcy and Steve have been the mainstay of the Heartland Pioneers Hug-A-Bears.  Marcy is the chair but says she would never be able carry it off with out the help of her partner Steve and all the volunteers.  Together they all make a great team that represents the Heartland Pioneers here in the Omaha area. Heartland President Joe Bonaiuto related the story to us about a older woman that was having major surgery and requested a Hug-A-Bear.  Joe said that we were more than happy to provide her with one.  Below are some of the pictures from the luncheon.  We would like to mention that for years now the 3M Company located in Valley, NE has provided us with the fluff free of charge that we use to stuff the Bears with.  We would like to tell them "thank you" very much again for their contribution.