Give a Teddy Bear to a sick
child in the hospital
Copyright © 2008 Michele Bryant. All rights reserved.
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The Theodore Roosevelt Association held a reception to announce the nationwide expansion of their annual Teddy Bear Gift Program. Guests gathered appropriately in the Theodore Roosevelt Room at the Milleridge Inn on Tuesday, Dec. 18.
TRA President James Bruns announced that their program of bringing Teddy Bears to children's hospitals at Christmas time will be expanded nationally in 2008, although without the holiday time frame. Since starting the annual Teddy Bear Gift Program began in 1986, the TRA has distributed over 62,000 Teddy Bears to sick children. Prior to this year, they were given out in New York City, TR's birthplace.
President Theodore Roosevelt is synonymous with the Teddy Bear. He was a conservationist who also loved big game hunting, but on one trip to the south in 1902 he refused to shoot a helpless tethered bear, prompting political cartoonist Clifford Berryman to pen a cartoon showing the President, "Drawing the line in Mississippi." The cuddly cartoon bear in Mr. Berryman's drawing soon became universally recognized as the alter ego for the nation's 26th president. It was used in countless Berryman cartoons as the graphic surrogate for the president, such that whenever readers of the Washington Post, and later the Washington Star, saw Mr. Berryman's Teddy Bear, they knew his cartoon was about TR. Inspired by that cartoon, Morris Michtom, the founder of the Ideal Toy Company, created the now famous "Teddy Bear." The toy version quickly became the beloved companion to millions of children who are seen as drawing comfort from their loveable plush bear. Countless sick and cranky children have been pictured as tearfully falling asleep clutching their worn out tattered Teddy Bears tightly in their arms.
"Theodore Roosevelt has been called the 'Father of the Teddy Bear' ever since the famous illustration by Mr. Berryman appeared," said Barbara Berryman Brandt of New York, the chair of the TRA and co-chair of the annual Teddy Bear Gift Program. The committee includes Tweed and Leslie Roosevelt of Massachusetts, Mrs. Brandt's husband Roger, and James and Marjorie Pehta of Illinois.
"This program began two decades ago in New York City, where Theodore Roosevelt was born, where he grew up, and where he was himself often bedridden with childhood illness. And now the Theodore Roosevelt Association hopes to reach out to sick children in other communities around the country," said Tweed Roosevelt, a great-grandson of TR and a co-chair of the annual Teddy Bear Gift Program.
Jim Bruns asked the group if they had had a Teddy Bear as a child and said he had. "Teddy Bears are there to confide secrets to; to absorb pain and sometimes anger." He added, "Unfortunately, there are many children who don't have a Teddy Bear to cuddle in their arms as they undergo serious medical treatments. They have no Teddy Bear to share their pain and absorb their tears."
Subject to the approval of the individual hospitals, the TRA hopes to provide Teddy Bears in areas where there are TRA chapters. They include Atlanta, Georgia, to Children's Healthcare Atlanta (468 bears); Austin, Texas, to the Dell Children's Medical Center of Central Texas (108 bears); Bayside, New York, to St. Mary's Healthcare System for Children (108 bears); Boston Massachusetts, to Children's Hospital Boston (360 bears); Buffalo, New York to the Women and Children's Hospital of Buffalo (144 bears); Chicago, Illinois, to Children's Memorial Hospital (252 bears); Dallas, Texas, to the Children's Medical Center of Dallas (432) bears; Indianapolis, Indiana, to the Riley Hospital for Children (288 bears); Nashville, Tennessee, to the Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt (216 bears); New York City to the Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital of New York (216 bears); Norfolk, Virginia, to the Children's Hospital of The King's Daughters on behalf of the sailors and Marines serving aboard the USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71); Portland, Oregon, to Legacy Emanuel Children's Hospital (180 bears); Seattle, Washington, to Children's Hospital and Regional Medical Center (252 bears); and Washington, D.C., to the Children's National Medical Center (216 bears).
As in the past, selected hospitals in the New York City area will also continue to receive Teddy Bears in 2007-2008.
The TRA gift Teddy Bears are 12 inches tall and meet all United States government product safety requirements.
Mr. Pehta said, "We hope that others are willing to help comfort a sick and scared child battling a serious illness or recovering from major surgery by giving them a Teddy Bear." Sympathetic donors wishing to support the Teddy Bear. Gift in other communities should contact the TRA by calling 921-6319 or by writing to the association at Post Office Box 719, Oyster Bay, NY 11771-0719 .
CLICK TO GO TO TOP Reprinted with permission of Anton News, and Oyster Bay Enterprise Pilot
