Toys aren’t just for play. They’re also a useful tool for law enforcement, and one high school student is determined to equip local police departments with all the stuffed animals they need.

As part of her leadership class community service project, Daley Krantz, a senior at Renton High School, collected dozens of stuffed toys to donate to local police departments so officers can give them to kids during emergencies.

“First I was really stuck and didn’t know what I wanted to do,” Krantz said on why she chose this project. “I was going through a list of ideas and then one of the things that I saw was a stuffed animal drive that could be donated to police departments. Automatically I knew this was what I wanted to do.”

It was a no-brainer. After all, Krantz knew first hand the power of a stuffed animal.

When she was 8 years old, someone tried to break into Krantz’s apartment in Puyallup. Her family called the police immediately. Krantz said she remembers being petrified and sitting on the couch with her sisters when the police came and handed them stuffed animals.

“It comforted me because, of course, I love stuffed animals,” she said. “When he gave me that, it was something I could hold onto. Since I was freaking out, I pulled it closer and it helped me calm down.”

Fast forward almost 10 years, it was time for her to pay the kindness forward.

Krantz set up a school-wide drive in hopes of collecting 40 stuffed animals — 20 for Renton police and 20 for another local police department. But to Krantz’s amazement, word spread and by Tuesday, Jan. 17, she had surpassed her goal. She plans to donate toys to more police departments now.

“It’s shocking and unbelievable because I didn’t know how well it would go considering the school doesn’t do well with drives,” she said. “But now that I’m actually seeing all the stuffed animals, it’s like… wow. It’s actually all coming together.”

Though the drive ends on Friday, Jan. 20, Krantz said the lessons she’s learned about herself is one of the most rewarding aspects.

“There’s always a joke in our family that because our last name is Krantz, we are the pro-Krantz-tinators,” she said. “I’m a huge procrastinator. But when it’s something you’re passionate about, you will not procrastinate; you’ll get it done. It’s eye opening because it pinpoints everything I’m passionate about. Now I realize that if I’m passionate about it, I’ll get it done.”