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Remember in the game of Monopoly how great it is to draw the card that gives you FREE MONEY? “The bank made an error in your favor and is putting money in your bank account . . .” What a super feeling that is!
Well something like that happened to me and my teddy bears! A couple weeks ago MamaBearsPlace received a check for $84 - out of the blue! The letter that came with the check said - “We hope that this gift will allow you to continue the good work that you do on behalf of the community.” How cool is that!
I found it very touching, and decided to maximize the gift with a WIN – WIN – WIN scenario. I pulled out some of my biggest stuffed animals that customers have not been buying this last year due to the economy. At just a little over cost, I could give five of them to children in the hospital in the name of the donor – and everyone wins – especially five children in the hospital!
So who is this mysterious donor? The staff of Charles Stephen and Company, Financial Architects (www.charlesstephen.com). Now we don’t want everyone contacting them for free money . . . no way. I just want to give a shout out to a company that is giving back to the community. Wouldn’t it be great if there were more of these good deeds we could hear about every day. Kinda makes your heart sing!
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Molly Garza, Director of Annual Giving at Presbyterian Healthcare Foundation, was reportedly moved to tears when she received six donated teddy bears. Six children at Albuquerque’s Presbyterian Healthcare Services get to hug a bear – for as long as they want, thanks to the parents of Sophia Olivia Fuller. Sophia’s parents, in her memory, donated bears to children in ICU care at Presbyterian through a program being offered online. The program is part of a new partnership between French Funerals-Cremations and MamaBearsPlace.com.
Garza says, “ I am so grateful for the kindness, compassion and generosity of people like Donna and her customers. “
Donna Luke, owner of MamaBearsPlace.com says, “I believe in the healing power of hugs. I also love making people, particularly children, happy with these really huggable teddy bears. That is why I enjoy what I do so much.”
Presbyterian hospital houses approximately 21 PICU (Pediatric Intensive Care) beds, 35 PED (Pediatric) beds, and 60 NICU (Neo-natal Intensive Care Unit) beds. “Often, being able to experience what could be referred to as hug therapy from a soft cuddly companion, like a teddy bear, could be an emotionally healing experience,” says Luke, who is considered an expert in the art of connecting teddy bears with those who need hugs.
To learn more about the program and make a donation in the memory of someone special, go tohttp://www.MamaBearsPlace.com.
MamaBearsPlace.com is an online business that offers opportunities to experience the hug of a teddy bear and express that hug as a donation. Contact Darren L Johnson at 505-340-3711 or email Darren@DarrenLJohnson.com for more information or to reach Donna Luke for comments or an interview. -
I’m so excited. We’re making a video about MamaBearsPlace. I hired a company to do it with me and so far it’s been great. First I met for coffee with their lead man and he asked me lots of questions about MamaBearsPlace – how it started, who is involved with it, what are my goals. Then we filmed for a couple hours onsite at the University of New Mexico Children’s Hospital in Albuquerque, NM.
I started the business because I like three things, - teddy bears, web designing and helping people. So I designed a website that combined teddy bears and helping people. As it happens, there are a lot of people involved with my website business. First there are the restaurant owners in Albuquerque who host a teddy bear display.* Their customers can hug the bears and take an instruction card that directs them to the website. Once on the website they can purchase two bears and donate one or both of them to children in the hospital. Then I take the donated bears to the Development Specialist for UNM Hospitals, Children’s Miracle Network. He gives them to those in charge of the Child Life floor inside the Children’s Hospital, who give them to the nurses, who give them to the children. People on all these levels have stories to tell about the teddy bears and their comforting effect on the children. It was delightful to hear them tell their stories, since I don’t normally get this kind of feedback.
One part that pleased me was hearing about the tiny infants who’ve received a stuffed animal. They’re too young to really know what’s happening, but the nurses are sure that the soft texture of a stuffed animal like Winky Lamb helps give them comfort. Sometimes they use the bears to hold the equipment that surrounds the baby and the stuffed animals help keep the environment comfy and cozy.
My goals are to grow the business so that not just hundreds but thousands of children receive teddy bears from MamaBearsPlace to comfort them. The result will also be that thousands of customers feel better for having made the donation, and lots of business owners will be improving customer loyalty by hosting teddy bear displays.
And since I donate 5% of the purchase price to the hospital, we really have five winners involved: the business hosting the display, their customers, MamaBearsPlace, the hospital and the children.It makes me smile all day long. I love win-win-win-win-win!
*The biggest supporters right now are The Range Restaurant on Menaul, The Range Restaurant on Wyoming, The Range Restaurant in Bernalillo, and Applebee’s on Montgomery
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I’ve just added it to the MamaBearsPlace website as a recipient hospital that customers can choose for the teddy bears that they donate and for the 5% donation that I give with each purchase.
Recently I was fortunate enough to have PHCC’s Child Life Director, Rebecca Armstrong, give me a tour of the facility. She is enthusiastic, animated and has a deep rooted sense of caring for and about people. Coming from a counselor background, she understands better than most of us how to help people handle the emotions of a hospital stay, for both the patient and the families.
She loves to have murals on the walls in the Children’s Center and pays attention to the details in them that bring warmth and joy. She pays attention to details like the color of the walls, the artwork displayed on them and reflected lighting to soften the look of a room. I heard terms like PICU and NICU and saw triplets who each weighed about 16 ounces. I was amazed at what that level of care looks like. In addition, Rebecca has a session once a week that brings the parents of newborns together to share their joys and struggles.
Rebecca’s long time assistant, Patti, was coloring when I met her. She makes a colorful name page for each child coming into the center each day. These pages are taped to the child’s door so that everyone who attends to that child can walk in with a smile and a personal greeting. What a delightful detail that makes a difference.
Then there was Rachael’s Courtyard. How delightful! Both indoor and outdoor spaces set up into areas of activities – colorful walls and murals, tables and chairs. They also have many planters to grow herbs, berries and flowers most of the year.
Rebecca praised the volunteers she works with daily and praised the Presbyterian Health Care Foundation and the donors who fund it. She says she couldn’t function without the contributions of both.
She told me stories of a few of the families she’s worked with in the Children’s Center, but I’d love to hear from you. What’s your story about Presbyterian Hospital Children’s Center?
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Since 1946 Target stores have been giving back to the community. They contribute 5% of annual income to support families and communities. Today that is more than $3 million EACH WEEK to the communities in which they do business.
Walmart’s tagline is “operating globally and giving back locally”. They provide financial and volunteer support to more than 100,000 charitable and community-focused organizations.
That is awesome! Giving back to the community is good for individuals and good for businesses that support it. It gives the individual a feeling of accomplishment, of satisfaction, of belonging. It gives the business a good reputation. It let’s the customers know they care. It makes everyone feel good. Most businesses aren’t as big as Target or Walmart, but their giving back attitude counts just as much. And it does just as much good for the individuals involved.
At MamaBearsPlace we help people donate brand-new huggable GUND teddy bears to children in the hospital. In addition MamaBearsPlace donates 5% of the purchase price to the hospital; plus ships the bears to the hospital for no charge. Since MamaBearsPlace is home-based in Albuquerque, New Mexico, the beneficiary of the “giving back” is the University of New Mexico Children’s Hospital. However, a customer may choose to donate the teddy bears to a Children’s Miracle Network Hospital in their own state.See how easy it is to feel good, when you “give back” through MamaBearsPlace.
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This is the year’s biggest fundraising event for our local Children’s Hospital. One of the local radio stations, 100.3 The Peak, hosts a 3 day RadioThon with the proceeds going to the Children’s Hospital. Typically the event brings in over $100,000, so there is a lot of community support.
Last year I took two sacks of Gund teddy bears that had been donated through MamaBearsPlace.com up to the children’s floor in the new Pavilion Wing of the hospital. Across from the bank of elevators was a long table full of 12-15 volunteers taking pledges. To the left was a section dedicated to the radio announcers who were on-air continuously from 6am to 6pm.
Daniel Jaecks is the Assistant Development Director who is in charge of this fundraiser and he almost lived there for the three days. They had special events and many special visitors to keep things exciting for both the volunteers and the children who passed through the halls. What a marvelous contribution of time and energy from all these willing participants.
While I was there, they gave several of my teddy bears to the children who were wheeled down the halls to one appointment or another. It was great because I don’t normally get to see any of the children who receive the teddy bears that my customers donate. Outsiders can’t just go visit the children in their rooms. But that day I saw them give a white teddy bear named “Snuffles” to a girl who had a neck brace and was walking with her mother. I couldn’t see the young girl’s face, but I both saw and heard her mother exclaim joyfully, “Oh, I had this same teddy bear when I was a girl!” Teddy bears are like that – so special and comforting – that their memory lives on long after the bear has gone.
If you’d like to call in a pledge for UNM Children’s Hospital, call 505-272-1003 or 1-866-811-1003 anytime from 6am to 6pm – February 24-26. That’s Wednesday – Friday.
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