Some people turn away when they see poverty and hunger.
Sue Franke can't do that.
She's seen elderly individuals with walkers and young children eating out of garbage cans on trash pick-up day.
She's looked into the eyes of an 8-year-old girl living in a homeless shelter who pleaded with her to remember to come back with more food.
She even took care of a woman with diabetes who she later learned lived in a cave with no running water, no electricity and no indoor plumbing.
"Just looking into someone's eyes who is desperate and has nothing ... you never forget it," Franke said.
"Hunger is alive and well in our area," said Franke, a Murrysville nurse who cares for others, especially those who may seem unlovable to society.
"For me, it's a mission from the Lord. What guides me is Matthew 25 (40)," said Franke, quoting, "as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me."
Franke spends her spare time coordinating pick-up of bakery items daily at area Panera Bread locations. According to the Panera Bread Web site, through the Day-End Dough-Nation program, unsold bakery products are packaged at the end of each day and donated to local food banks and charities.
Franke said these goods from four locations feed as many as 8,000 people per week, many of whom are living in homeless shelters in Westmoreland and Allegheny counties.
Since 1990, Franke has been instrumental in connecting more than 100,000 teddy bears and other stuffed animals to children who are experiencing a crisis, including sickness, homelessness, abuse and neglect.
She accomplishes all this through a business she developed called Keep In Touch: A Model of Caring. Her mission is to provide programs for adults and children, including hug therapy, bully prevention, disability awareness, anger and stress management and self-esteem building. These and other educational programs are designed to strengthen families and communities.
She presents these programs in schools as well as in 13 homeless shelters in Westmoreland and Allegheny counties.
Franke said she was inspired to do this work after seeing "poverty face to face" while serving as director of the southwestern Pennsylvania office as an employee of the Pennsylvania Department of Health in a special needs program called Special Kids Network.
Her job required her to travel through 11 counties to spread the word about the agency's toll-free hotline for families with children who have special needs.
In 2001 she retired from that position and started Keep in Touch to work actively with the poor. She had already been collecting clothes and other items from neighbors and friends for years to help those in need.
"I have a network of people I can put out a call to," Franke said.
Her network of friends includes her sister Cathy Drago, who collects purses and clothing at Trinity Tower Methodist Church in Penn Hills. Drago also picks up food at the Penn Center Panera Bread location.
Although she has no drop-off site for clothing donations, Franke encourages people to take unwanted items to a thrift store. Franke said she visits many of them in the area to clothe needy people and they often provide things to her free of charge.
She also works with a food bank and clothing collection at St. James Church in Apollo.
This past Christmas, Franke received toy donations from Dollar Tree to put gifts under the tree for children who otherwise would have had nothing.
"They supplied me with enough toys this Christmas for 3,000 children," she said.
She also received donated merchandise from six locations of Hot Topic stores and Pat Catan's Craft Centers.
Smawley's Dry Cleaning in Murrysville helped out by cleaning and sanitizing gently used stuffed animals.
Kay Jewelers in Ross Park Mall provided some Christmas bears.
To her surprise, Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger quietly purchased three cases of bears to give to needy children.
"He's a hero," Franke said, smiling. "He saw my poster and he said, 'I want to help this lady,' and he sure did."
To add to the gift, Franke bought Terrible Towels to put on the paws, and she was thrilled to let the children know the bears came from Big Ben when she gave them out at the shelters and The Children's Institute in Squirrel Hill.
"What a sensation it made," said Franke, who loves to see children smile.
A pediatric nursing instructor at Duquesne University's School of Nursing, Franke worked with her students to conduct a toy collection for children, specifically those at risk. Franke explained that these children were identified by the shelters as needing special things.
The clinical site for her students is at The Children's Institute, where they have adopted her teddy bear program.
Franke works closely with Build-A-Bear and lets children choose their own bear through the Web site. The bears are free. Funding is provided by several community organizations and Franke often pays for them out of her own pocket.
"When you're sick and you're a child, you're hurting and you're afraid," Franke said. "Your family may not be there, and what could be better than a furry friend?"
She also relies on the expertise of the Build-A-Bear staff to share ideas on bereavement therapy with her class.
A bereavement support counselor, Franke conducts a bereavement support group through Burger King's Cancer Caring Center in Bloomfield in conjunction with Animal Friends. Children in this group are often treated to the bears as well.
Bonnie Shields, director of support services for Burger King's Cancer Caring Center, believes Franke's work with the pet therapy program has made a difference for many children and has ultimately led to better performance in school and less anxiety.
Franke's community involvement in general puts most people to shame, Shields said.
"She's really done a lot of work in the community -- a lot of good work," Shields said.
Eventually Franke would love to receive donations of new and used video game systems.
She believes this would help build confidence and lessen the chance of children being teased at school because they don't have access to the games.
She put out a call to the community for the consoles, but received very little response.
Franke also hopes people will stop throwing away items that could be used at shelters. She said so many times she sees perfectly good furniture out for the garbage. An alternative, she suggested, is to call St. Vincent de Paul for a pick-up.
As gasoline prices continue to rise and subprime mortgages force many into foreclosure on their homes, the image of a homeless person is changing, Franke said.
"We're seeing intact families in shelters. It's not just people who are victims of domestic violence," she said. "Many families are two paychecks away from poverty, and now we're seeing it."
Just a few weeks into the new year, Franke said this is a tough time for those in need.
"This is a particularly hard time now that Christmas is over. Everybody is forgotten, but the work goes on," she said. "The real key is that children and adults are just looking for love and caring, and we don't live in a caring environment."
For more information, call Franke at 412-855-0599 or go to www.hugsandbears.com.
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