GENEROSITY OF 12-YEAR-OLD INSPIRES OTHERS.

Byline: Deborah Sullivan Daily News Staff Writer

Tim Holmes gave away his prized Beanie Baby doll not once, but three times over, to help the families of three Los Angeles firefighters who died on duty.

The 12-year-old Santa Clarita boy raffled his Princess Diana Beanie Baby to raise money for the families of city Fire Department paramedics Michael Butler and Eric Reiner, who died in a helicopter crash March 23, and fire Capt. Joseph Dupee, who perished in a Hyde Park blaze March 8.

And when others sent him three replacements of the coveted purple bear with a white rose over its heart, Tim donated two of them, too. He added one to the raffle - and gave the other to Reiner's widow in a ceremony Monday at Fire Station 81.

``What an expression of generosity that this would come from a 12-year-old child,'' said Reiner's widow, Lisa, of Carson. ``It's such a testament to the goodness that is still present in our youth.''

Glendale Firefighter Gary McCarter, who had purchased $50 in raffle tickets and won the first Beanie Baby donated by Tim, presented it Monday to Butler's widow, Maria, 6-1/2 months pregnant.

``I had decided at the time that if I won I would give it to her,'' said McCarter.

Lisa Reiner said she and her four children will share their new Beanie.

``It's wonderful that this boy, Tim, presented it to us, and I'm thanking him and his family,'' said Nicholas Reiner, 9, also an avid Beanie Baby collector. He has 21 of the stuffed toys and has memorized the name, the ``birthday'' and poem that came with each one.

Tim organized the raffle after learning of the deaths of Butler and Reiner when the helicopter crashed while paramedics were trying to take Norma Vides, 11, to Childrens Hospital Los Angeles. Norma also died.

Tim, diagnosed with cerebral palsy, underwent brain surgery at Childrens Hospital in January. He said he identified with the firefighters' efforts to save Norma, who had been injured in a car collision.

``To see that - two firefighters that help people every day, seeing them die - made me want to do something,'' he said.

He organized the raffle through the Victoria's Cottage toy store, where he had bought the Princess Di Beanie Baby after his name was chosen at random from an 11-page waiting list, said his mother, Lee Ann Holmes.

After learning of Tim's donation, Symphony of Flowers of Woodland Hills and individual collectors from Montebello and Lancaster gave him more.

Victoria's Cottage also donated a Princess Di Beanie Baby for the raffle at all three of its stores - in Woodland Hills, Newhall and Canyon Country, Lee Ann Holmes said. She said the raffle of the three bears raised $3,445 for the three families.

``It was so kind and generous of him to think about us,'' Butler's widow said about Tim. ``He's a special boy. I'm overwhelmed by all the love and the gifts we've received from family and friends and strangers.''

Tim's donation sparked not only gratitude from the families, but the beginnings of friendship. Nicholas Reiner eagerly accepted an invitation to see Tim's whole collection someday.

Heaving open a wooden chest filled with his own stuffed treasures, Nicholas named each one and recited the poem for Snort, the Beanie bull whose ``birth date'' is May 15 - the same as his late father's.

Members of the Reiner family will share their Princess Di Beanie bear, Nicholas told reporters. When his mother said it would be displayed on a shelf, he asked earnestly, ``Can it go on my shelf first?''

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