A teddy bear drive for the students of Sandy Hook Elementary has gained national recognition by two Smyrna residents originally from Connecticut.

When Cindy Pitts learned about the incident in Sandy Hook, she rushed to her friend, Nina Sonsini and the two consoled one another in disbelief that the place they once called home had been the scene of such a horrible tragedy.

Cindy said, "We have to do something. This is too big... Teddy bears! We'll send teddy bears!".

Over 500 bears were collected in three days and the goal is to collect enough so that each Newtown Elementary student has a bear when they return to school.

The women reached out to friends and family through social media and the project exploded. Their efforts were featured on NBC Nightly News as part of Ann Curry's "26 Random Acts of Kindness".

Bears and letters are being collected at the following locations until 5pm on Thursday:

Sterling Engineering and Fabrication (sponsoring shipping)
101 Performance Way
Carrollton, GA 30117

Then Again Consignments
3988 Atlanta Road
Smyrna, GA 30080

916 Sharon Circle
Smyrna GA 30082