Think back to when you were younger. You might have had a stuffed animal or doll that went everywhere with you. It was your buddy, your best friend. It was anything you wanted it to be.

We all remember the events of Sept. 11 and the relief efforts for the victims. But the people who worked at the World Trade Center -- as well as the firefighters and police officers who died -- weren't the only ones affected by the tragedy. The children of those killed are victims, too.

One Indianapolis boy, Austin Strong, 12, decided to do something for those children, so he spearheaded a stuffed-animal drive.

Austin, a sixth-grader at Westlane Middle School, shared the idea with his confirmation class while they were on a retreat. The 13 members approved the idea and got to work.

Y-Press interviewed Austin, Jake Nice and Katie Richmond about their involvement with the drive and why children were their main concern.

"We're children, so we understand more what the children feel than what the firefighters would feel," said Katie, a 12-year-old who attends St. Richard's School.

They wanted to send the stuffed animals rather than money because they felt it would be more personal, they explained. "Animals seem to help more than money," said Jake, 12, also a student at St. Richard's School.

"The stuffed animals can be anything you want them to be. If you want them to be fun, they can be fun. If you need them to be Mommy, they can be Mommy, whereas money can't always be Mommy," said Austin. "When you think about it, all the relief efforts were aimed toward the adults, so it's like people didn't realize that the children were affected, too."

Katie had a different reason for collecting the stuffed animals.

"It would be a lot to ask people to give money, but it's easier to ask for stuffed animals because you might have a bag of stuffed animals in your attic. That way you wouldn't have to feel like you're obligated to bring money, but you could bring stuff that wouldn't cost a lot," she said.

For two weeks late last year, the confirmation class of Meridian Street United Methodist Church collected stuffed animals from members, friends, family and schoolmates.

Jake and Katie found a lot of support at St. Richard's.

"In the middle of the day, me and Katie stood up and asked everybody to donate some animals for the people," Jake said.

"During all-school chapel, the deacon would be sure to mention how many stuffed animals we had to encourage people to bring in more," Katie said.

It worked.

"We had a total of about a thousand," Katie said.

But they ran into a few snags.

"We had to turn down some of the animals because they were not in good enough condition, and some wouldn't be as comforting because they weren't the best kind. And transportation was hard for us because our school had a couple of hundred we had received, and trying to carry them down the stairs was hard," Jake said.

While Austin's school didn't contribute as many, people from throughout the city donated to the project.

"I was surprised that we had so many from people, and we asked for gently used ones, but a lot of people just went out and generously bought a lot of them and brought them in," Jake said.

So how did they get the animals from Indianapolis to New York?

"My dad did it for us," Austin said. A local freight company gave them free shipping. "And then my mom got the addresses for three different churches and Toys for Tots, and that's where they ended up," said Austin.

Y-Press asked the three how they would feel if they were the kids in New York who received the stuffed animals.

"Very thankful that the gift comes from somebody who's never known me but genuinely cares," Jake said.

"Inspired. Thankful," said Katie. "I would feel that somebody else had understood what I was going through, and that they were kind enough to take their time to send me something to make me feel better."

All three agreed that they would do something like this again should the need arise.

"It depends on who was affected. Like, if there were a lot of children affected, I would do another stuffed animal drive. But if it was mostly adults, I would probably work with a national organization more," Austin said.

Katie saw another benefit to the drive. "It, in a way, united our church more," she said.

"I think we all realize how willing people are to help if they have something they can help with," Austin added.

REPORTERS: Allison Gardner, 11; Perri McKinley, 12; Rebecca Salois, 12; Grace Shockley, 13; and Kaitlin Stallings, 12.