Children receiving care at Dr. F.H. Wigmore Regional Hospital will soon have the comfort of furry friends after students from Vanier Collegiate dropped off a large collection of teddy bears.
Four students — Brooklyn Artavia, Mia Donaldson, Olivia Geradts and Bethany Jones — from Monique Byers’ Grade 11 Catholic Studies class stopped by the pediatric ward on May 5 to deliver 54 plush animals of various sizes and other goodies in 40 gift bags.
Before they left, the students personally delivered two small plush animals to two-year-old Petra Moody and her mom Lisa.
The students collected teddy bears as part of their Christian Action Project earlier this year, explained Artavia. They stuck posters on the walls around the school announcing the initiative and asked the student body to contribute to help kids in the hospital.
“And we got a lot of donations, as well as students going out and buying word searches (and) colouring books. And we also made cards as well,” she continued. “There’s a lot of work that went into it … so we couldn’t have done it without the school.”
Pediatric RN Bonnie Nelson thanked the students for delivering the teddy bears, saying their efforts were amazing and would bring smiles to the kids. She noted that many children have been on the ward recently.
“We’ll definitely put them to go use,” she added. “Wow! And the packaging, it’s like a present for them.”
“It’s like Christmas in May,” agreed floor manager Judy Wicharuk with a laugh. “This will last probably until Christmas.”
Christian Action Projects are part of every Catholic Studies class that Vanier holds, where students are encouraged to think about how they can serve the community, explained Byers. While students are encouraged to focus on their prayer life, teachers often suggest they pursue a service project such as fundraising for the food bank or collecting teddy bears.
“It (the theme) was, ‘Show you care, bring a bear,’” she added.
The class chose teddy bears because they were one of the first ideas suggested and would likely be something a child would want, said Artavia.
“Like, try to imagine if you were in the hospital, you probably just want something to hold to help you through it. That’s kind of what we thought,” she continued. “And maybe just add on some time-passers like word searches. It’s like a nice, easy gift.”
The best part about delivering the teddy bears was watching people’s faces light up in excitement as they saw the packages arrive, said Artavia. It was also a good feeling to donate the stuffed critters.
“It helps the people around you as well. As a community, even hearing about it, it just kind of brings more hope and happiness all around,” she added. “The emotion is very infectious. Like, just seeing all these happy faces, it’s a nice thing.”
