Stuffed with encouragement
The annual ALD Teddy Bear Drive collects 200 bears for hospitalized children
Every year, Liberty’s chapter of the Alpha Lambda Delta Honor Society (ALD) sets out to give hospitalized children a reason to smile. The ALD’s annual Teddy Bear Drive, in partnership with the pediatric unit at Lynchburg General Hospital, was held this year from March 21-24.
ALD was able to deliver roughly 200 teddy bears to the hospital March 25. Carson Smith, co-secretary of ALD, said her involvement with the event stems from her own experiences.
SERVICE — ALD members organized the donations. Photo provided
“The reason I wanted to be in charge of the Teddy Bear Drive was because I was hospitalized in middle school,” Smith said. “I still have the stuffed animal that my church sent me. It really meant a lot to me. Having something to sit on your bed and fill up that space where your parents are normally visiting during visiting hours was really important to me. It shows someone cares.”
Smith said ALD puts out boxes around the school and encourages ALD members to get involved in donating. She said they collect new teddy bears, coloring books, crayons, sippy cups and other items that the hospital might be asking for.
According to Smith, however, recent years have seen a steady decline in donations, forcing the ALDto be more innovative.
“We set up shop in the library this year, and we sold some teddy bears that we had bought in bulk,” Smith said. “We just sold them to students and put them in the donation box, and then that supplemented the donation boxes that we normally receive.”
While acknowledging the importance of such initiatives, Bessie Grayson, administrative advisor for ALD, worries about the impact that donations can have on immunocompromised children.
“We understand that there are other clubs or departments here on campus who do teddy bear drives, and they will accept used teddy bears, you know, ‘slightly loved’ teddy bears,” Grayson said. “But with ALD, we can only accept brand-new ones, simply because they are going into the hospital for the children.”
In the end, both Smith and Grayson were pleased with the year’s results.
“Considering it was our first year selling the bears and also that we were only accepting cash, I actually thought we did really well,” Smith said. “I would like to see more on-campus participation next year.”
MORAES is a news reporter.