Ann King, the volunteer coordinator at Flaget Memorial Hospital, recalls seeing a young boy crying in the surgery area. She knew he needed comfort, so she gave him a teddy bear.
“He just lit up,” said King, who’s been making the bears with other volunteers for nearly a decade. She calls them, “Buddy Bears,” because the gifted bear is the patient’s buddy to take with them.
“I started it because I sewed a lot and I had made this little bear,” she said. “I was looking for something at the hospital for kids in surgery.”
The project has mushroomed from there. Volunteers provide the bears to the emergency room to provide some comfort for kids that come through the ER. Then she saw another natural fit: “I thought little bears would be good for the nursery,” King said.
Now the team of volunteers are providing 500-600 bears a year across Flaget. Every baby born at Flaget receives one of the volunteer-crafted bears in the nursery.
King, a former nurse at Flaget, wasn’t just thinking about the kids - she knew it could also benefit nurses.
When she started, King was doing it all - the sewing and the stuffing. Then she found a committee of volunteers who could help with the stuffing and, later, another seamstress to help craft the bears.
“One reason I keep doing it is because it helps the little ones … it helps the nurses too,” she said.
King, 81, started volunteering at Flaget in 2005. “Once I retired, I had to have something to do and started volunteering,” she said.
“One reason I keep doing it is because it helps the little ones … it helps the nurses too,” she said.
Volunteering -- and the bears – are her way of giving back.
“It’s just fun to watch a smile come on a person’s face,” she said.
Learn more about volunteer opportunities at CHI Saint Joseph Health and apply today.
CHI Saint Joseph Health works with community partners to ensure patients have access to food.
Read More Additional information about Fighting Food Insecurity through Community Partnerships
Saint Joseph Hospital Foundation’s Yes, Mamm! program recently celebrated its 10th anniversary, and the impact of the last 10 years of free mammograms, diagnostic services and program support gives each patient a lifetime of opportunities.
Read More Additional information about Celebrating 10 Years of Yes, Maam!
Margaret Gray is an enthusiastic supporter of the new Neonatal Specialty Care Unit at Saint Joseph London because she knows the tolls of travel for health care.
Read More Additional information about Giving Back to the Community
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Spirit of Health magazine's print edition is distributed quarterly and focuses on topics related to our CHI Saint Joseph Health purpose and values.
