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Where have we sent Teddy Bears?

Teddies Everywhere!

Since our founding 18 years ago, close to 95,000 Teddies (and other "critters") have been shipped to hospitals, social service agencies, and trauma personnel. Confidentiality issues prevent us from listing all the places that received your Teddies, but here are a few examples:

  • American Red Cross
  • Park County Sheriff's Dept.
  • Yale-New Haven Hospital
  • The Children's Fund
  • Sherpards Heart Orphanage, Sri Lanka
  • K-9 Disaster Relief
  • Ft. Campbell, KY
  • Christian Life Center
  • Camp Pendleton
  • Enumclaw Fire Dept.
  • Ellsworth AFB SD
  • Seattle Children's Hospital
  • Lucille Packard Children's Hospital
  • Loyola University Medical Center
  • Angela Hospice (Michigan)

Others were sent to American military personnel in Iraq to distribute to children there, as well as to the children of American military personnel stationed in Iraq and Afghanistan. For security purposes, we have been asked not to identify specific addresses.

We have sent thousands of Teddy Bears when asked, in response to major natural disasters (Hurricane Katrina, Indonesian tsunami) and manmade events (Oklahoma City bombing, 9/11, anthrax attacks, and subsequent war.)

(For more background, please see our coverage in the San Francisco Chronicle, DefenseLink, USA Today and Los Angeles Times. Thanks also to Fox News Weekend Magazine for its coverage.)

Thousands of your Teddy Bears have gone to pediatric hospitals; police, fire and emergency personnel (to give to kids at accident and critical incident scenes), and to trauma counselors.

Excerpt from one thank you letter:

"On behalf of the children and Menlo Park Firefighters we thank you, Dr. Bear and your organization for the wonderful Teddy Bears that were donated to this year's Stanford Children's Hospital program. Santa and our firefighters visited each child and gave them a teddy bear. The teddy bears bring cheer and joy to each child. Thanks again for the great support ... Happy New Year."

From: David Hitchcock, Captain, Menlo Park Fire District (California)

(Excerpts from letters used with permission)

"Thank you so much for giving the bears. The children loved them."
Missionary Gerry Major from a Mexican orphanage

"I thought you might like to know about the children who have received the bears. A 10-year old boy and his three-year-old brother recently lost their father to brain cancer. An eight-year old girl is having a very difficult time adjusting to life without her mother who recently died of breast cancer. Two brothers -- ages five and eight -- lost the twin of the five-year-old suddenly as a result of a traumatic injury. A nine-year old girl is struggling with the reality that her policeman father who she adored died of an aneurism. And, a four-year-old girl idolized her grandmother who took care of her while her mother worked and recently died of cancer. These children were awe struck when they were given the wonderful teddy bears, and each one immediately hugged his/her bear."
Sally A. Loughrin, LMSW, ACSW, Bereavement Social Worker

"The bears donated to the Burn Center will provide that source of comfort, and we are extremely grateful for your generosity. To see a child hold onto their bear while they are having dressings changed or a procedure done proves to me that they are more than just stuffed animals; they provide security and help the children feel safe during their time in the Burn Center."
Jeanie M. Leggett, R.N., B.S.N. (and Shannon Roe, Burn Center staff nurse)

"This past year we were able to provide a brighter Christmas to thousands of children by providing gifts, books, bicycles, jackets and food which were all delivered by Santa and his many Elves. Your support is greatly appreciated by the volunteers and by the many children who have had a better Christmas..."
The Forgotten Children's Fund

Thousands have gone to the children of deploying military personnel

certificate Your "fuzzy hugs" comforted kids as their loved ones in the U.S. Army's 40th Signal Battalion deployed to Iraq. In some cases, both parents were deployed... children also received OTC certificates for being "brave and helpful" at home. homecoming

Thousands more have gone to kids bearing adversity throughout the world


These Liberian children received Teddy Bears from you.

Some other places we have sent your Teddy Bears are the Middle East, Afghanistan, Guatamalea, Bosnia, Japan, England, Scotland, and Mexico.

 

"Cuddly and warm, these calming creatures reassure me in the days when fears fly before reason and the world looms bleak instead of beautiful. The Teddy Bear...symbol that all is right with the world if one only believes."

-- from Teddy Bear Quotations, Exley Press
WTC towers Where did 9/11 Teddy Bears go?

To families visiting the WTC site who lost loved ones there

To the families of postal workers impacted by anthrax

To affected students in the Manhattan and NYC School systems

To a candlelight vigil for families in New Jersey

To NYPD families being assisted by peer counselors

To those visiting Family Assistance Centers for counseling and support

To the children of rescue workers (who sent teams from locations outside New York)

To families in the United Kingdom who lost loved ones

To children in the Rockaway District of New York (where the plane crashed)

postal Teddies
photo by Peter 'Doc' H. Deutsch, USPS

Scott Tucker, USPS District Manager, San Francisco, accepted 1,000 Teddy Bears to comfort and cheer East Coast postal workers impacted by anthrax. The bears were sent along with a giant banner signed by hundreds of people, as well as other banners made by schools, scouts, and members of Half Moon Bay's Coastside Lutheran Church (That's our family on the right).