ALBUQUERQUE, NM (KRQE) — When firefighters go out to car accidents or fires they often bring something along that you may not expect. They say it can make all the difference. We’re talking about a teddy bear.

So when an Albuquerque 10-year-old learned about it, she knew she wanted to help.

“I thought it was a really good idea,” Samantha Nash said, adding she read about it in a book.

“I wanted to be one of those people who got to give teddy bears to them,” Samantha said.

Police officers and firefighters offer up stuffed animals to young kids, scared, at emergency call-outs.

“It was pretty amazing and actually when she first presented it, we went over to the fire station to ask them what type of bears do you need and is it okay if we do this and they were really excited,” John Nash, Samantha’s father said.

But then Samantha did something, not even her dad expected.

“She first offered her own bear up to them,” Nash said.

“I cared about him a lot and he cared about me so I wanted to have him care about some other kid who was in need too,” Samantha said.

While particularly special, ‘Teddy’ was a bit worn down for firefighters to give away. That led to the idea for a teddy bear drive.

“I’m tremendously proud,” Nash said of his daughter.2

Since last year she’s collected about 600 stuffed animals for Albuquerque Fire Departments.

“If they’ve loved their teddy bear and their teddy bear has loved them, I know that they will love the person that they are given to,” Samantha explained.

Firefighters say these teddy bears can immediately wipe away the tears of a little kid in a scary situation.

“It’s continuing in what I’ve always wanted to do in helping people,” Samantha said.

A little girl with dreams of being a police officer, already making a big difference in her community.

“It makes me feel good,” she said.