A Warm Thank you to one of the local Quilting Groups for making many lovely, warm, beautiful quilts for the teddy bears and the kids in the Bear Hugs Project.
We started the Teddy Bear Hugs Program in the spring of 2012 after
taking a tour of some of the non-profit organizations around Homer.
We toured one called the Haven House which helps abused children,
women and men get through very difficult times in their lives.
One of the rooms that they have is called their 'safe room' in which the police and councilors talk with the abused children to find out what happened to them. During the interview with the children, they are allowed to choose a teddy bear to hold and hug. This is in an attempt to give the child a feeling of safety and caring in hopes that the child will feel comfortable enough to tell the police what happened to them so the offender will be caught and charged for their horrible crime. After the interview, the child is allowed to keep the teddy bear they were hugging and the child is then sent to a safe location to live with caring relatives or family friends that will care for and protect them.
We noticed that during our tour of the Haven House they were terribly short of teddy bears. In our community alone they say they go through 250 teddy bear per year. Now just imagine how many teddy bears other Haven House organizations go through in larger communities.
A teddy bear may be such a small thing to donate in the grand scheme of things when you really look at what horrible things these children go through at the hands of abusers but it is amazing what hugging a teddy bear can do to comfort someone, young or old.
Over this summer we found that not only adults wanted to donate teddy bears but kids wanted to help out as well. One does not have to buy a new teddy bear but only to talk with their kids and have them pick one from their room that they want to donate to a child in need. We had a lot of kids this year give one of their own teddy bears to the project, and that just warms the heart.
Anyone wishing to donate a teddy bear, feel free to find new or gently used teddy bears and bring them up to Alaska with you when you visit us or mail them.
We are also promoting people to donate teddy bears in their own community as well if they do not wish to mail one up to us in Alaska. We are hoping this idea will spread to other areas and communities around the world.
One of the rooms that they have is called their 'safe room' in which the police and councilors talk with the abused children to find out what happened to them. During the interview with the children, they are allowed to choose a teddy bear to hold and hug. This is in an attempt to give the child a feeling of safety and caring in hopes that the child will feel comfortable enough to tell the police what happened to them so the offender will be caught and charged for their horrible crime. After the interview, the child is allowed to keep the teddy bear they were hugging and the child is then sent to a safe location to live with caring relatives or family friends that will care for and protect them.
We noticed that during our tour of the Haven House they were terribly short of teddy bears. In our community alone they say they go through 250 teddy bear per year. Now just imagine how many teddy bears other Haven House organizations go through in larger communities.
A teddy bear may be such a small thing to donate in the grand scheme of things when you really look at what horrible things these children go through at the hands of abusers but it is amazing what hugging a teddy bear can do to comfort someone, young or old.
Over this summer we found that not only adults wanted to donate teddy bears but kids wanted to help out as well. One does not have to buy a new teddy bear but only to talk with their kids and have them pick one from their room that they want to donate to a child in need. We had a lot of kids this year give one of their own teddy bears to the project, and that just warms the heart.
Anyone wishing to donate a teddy bear, feel free to find new or gently used teddy bears and bring them up to Alaska with you when you visit us or mail them.
We are also promoting people to donate teddy bears in their own community as well if they do not wish to mail one up to us in Alaska. We are hoping this idea will spread to other areas and communities around the world.
.JPG)
Alaska Time
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