Bear Buddy
Imagine that you are a young child. You sit in a strange room while grownups --some of whom are strangers to you --discuss where you are going to be sleeping tonight. You feel scared and alone. You were moved from the place you had been living in a hurry, away from the people you had come to know. You have nothing to hold onto that belongs to you, nothing familiar which makes you feel safe. For the second time in a year, your world has been turned upside-down...
Imagine you are that frightened child, now on her way to an arranged visitation. You don't know if it will be a good or a bad experience this time. Sometimes it means that you will be moved again, whether or not you want to be moved. You wish that you had a friend with you-- one who is always with you-- one who keeps all of your feelings safe and makes you a little bit braver...
Christine Sanders and Penny Weinberg-Uebelhoer are determined to make these difficult transitions a little bit easier for kids in our region who are in the foster care system. Both members have engaged the help of the Susquehanna Valley Ethical Society to put a cuddly, personalized teddy bear into the arms of every child who may face these challenging changes. The mission began when Christine, who is generously involved in a local foster child program, caring for some of the most endangered children in our community thought what if we could give each of these kids something of their very own-- something that nobody could claim for another, or that would likely get left behind in a transition? What if that “something" was a soft, smiling-faced teddy bear --with this child's own name embroidered on its bib --a familiar, huggable “friend" to bridge the transitions with?
With this plan in mind, Penny purchased a large number of these teddy bears through Kohl's at wholesale prices, filling a spare bedroom in her home with happy plush just waiting to befriend a child.
The women are now in the process of gathering the names of children in the greater Susquehanna Valley who are currently in foster care or under the supervision of Child Services, and are looking for a business or person/people who would be willing to embroider the name of each one of these children on their intended bear buddy. If you would like to help with this project by donating embroidery services or money, please contact Kimberly Eaton, chair, Ethical Actions Committee for SVES at kimmyeaton@gmail.com , Penny Weinberg-Uebelhoer, chair, Membership Committee for SVES at penny.weinberg@ksecorp.com , or Christine Sanders, SVES Secretary, at christinejsanders33@gmail.com
Imagine that you are a young child. You sit in a strange room while grownups --some of whom are strangers to you --discuss where you are going to be sleeping tonight. You feel scared and alone. You were moved from the place you had been living in a hurry, away from the people you had come to know. You have nothing to hold onto that belongs to you, nothing familiar which makes you feel safe. For the second time in a year, your world has been turned upside-down...
Imagine you are that frightened child, now on her way to an arranged visitation. You don't know if it will be a good or a bad experience this time. Sometimes it means that you will be moved again, whether or not you want to be moved. You wish that you had a friend with you-- one who is always with you-- one who keeps all of your feelings safe and makes you a little bit braver...
Christine Sanders and Penny Weinberg-Uebelhoer are determined to make these difficult transitions a little bit easier for kids in our region who are in the foster care system. Both members have engaged the help of the Susquehanna Valley Ethical Society to put a cuddly, personalized teddy bear into the arms of every child who may face these challenging changes. The mission began when Christine, who is generously involved in a local foster child program, caring for some of the most endangered children in our community thought what if we could give each of these kids something of their very own-- something that nobody could claim for another, or that would likely get left behind in a transition? What if that “something" was a soft, smiling-faced teddy bear --with this child's own name embroidered on its bib --a familiar, huggable “friend" to bridge the transitions with?
With this plan in mind, Penny purchased a large number of these teddy bears through Kohl's at wholesale prices, filling a spare bedroom in her home with happy plush just waiting to befriend a child.
The women are now in the process of gathering the names of children in the greater Susquehanna Valley who are currently in foster care or under the supervision of Child Services, and are looking for a business or person/people who would be willing to embroider the name of each one of these children on their intended bear buddy. If you would like to help with this project by donating embroidery services or money, please contact Kimberly Eaton, chair, Ethical Actions Committee for SVES at kimmyeaton@gmail.com , Penny Weinberg-Uebelhoer, chair, Membership Committee for SVES at penny.weinberg@ksecorp.com , or Christine Sanders, SVES Secretary, at christinejsanders33@gmail.com
