About 150 children brought home more than memories of a day spent playing baseball. As a Niagara Children’s Centre tournament wrapped up at Lancaster Park Monday afternoon, 17-year-old brothers Belal and Qasim Hamdani handed each of the players a gift — weighted stuffed toys to help calm children dealing with anxiety and autism. The twins — they’re students at Milton Academy high school near Boston, on lacrosse scholarships — returned to their St.
Catharines home for the summer with plans to help Niagara children. Qasim said the stuffies they handed out to the young baseball players, including foxes and bears, are meant to be “sensory items, so when the kids hold them it makes them feel safe and makes them feel protected.” Their father, St.
Catharines business owner Sallah Hamdani, said they’re not typical stuffed animals. “When you’re dealing with anxiety and autism, it’s a proven fact that the children are more at ease if they have a weighted item, like these weighted stuffies,” he said. “They help with meltdowns and help kids that face anxiety or autism and they’re able to kind of be a relief or a sense of calmness.
” The brothers contacted companies that manufacture sensory toys or games that alleviate suffering. They raised money to purchase hundreds of weighted stuffed animals to hand out during the summer months. They then contacted Niagara Children’s Centre, hoping to get those items into the hands of the children who would benefit from .
