REGINA - Teddy Bears Anonymous has impacted kids going through hospitals over the past decade by giving them a companion through challenging times.
One person who felt their impact was Ashley Carnegie, whose son Luke was going through a checkup at a young age.
Even though Carnegie knew the checkup was a regular procedure, she still felt anxious about it.
Carnegie mentioned Luke was only a year and a half old at the time, so he wouldn’t "really know what was happening, right? He just thinks we're going on a trip first thing in the morning, so he's not worried [about the procedure] or anything [that will happen next]."
On the day Luke was going for his treatment, there was a teddy bear on his hospital bed. Carnegie remembers him "wanting it [the teddy bear] right away and was just hugging it, smiling with it, playing with it. And for myself, it was a distraction. I was that he was uplifted [seeing him happy], and it made me worry so much less."
Carnegie believes a teddy bear is something "[a child] can have a connection with it, it's not a truck [instead] it's something that symbolizes comfort, it's soft, like another person, you know. When you come home at the end of the day [and you see your family, it] is the same feeling as that teddy bear."
Because Luke felt that connection with the teddy bear, throughout the procedure, he never cried once, and was he even jumping onto a nurse’s arm. Carnegie was struggling to hold back tears, happy to see her kid doing okay.
After that whole experience, Carnegie decided to look into Teddy Bears Anonymous. Since she was so grateful for their help with her son’s procedure, Carnegie spent around $1,000 on the organization through one of their online auctions.
Touched by other’s stories
Mark Johnston is the vice president of Teddy Bears Anonymous and has been volunteering with the organization since around 2015.
Johnston had a connection to Luke Lawrence, the president of Teddy Bears Anonymous. Johnston’s sister had worked with Luke’s daughter, Erin. After dealing with a battle with a rare form of cancer, Erin passed away from it.
Lawrence wrote a book about his daughter’s story, which is called Erin’s Gift. Johnston read the book, which he was "quite moved by" seeing what Lawrence has gone through.
Eventually, Johnston decided to get involved and help out in any way he could. Johnston started doing charity work, helping raise $8,000 for two straight years during Bottles for Bears, a bottle drive.
After that, the "charity asked [me] to join the board, and now, I'm the vice president of the charity working alongside Luke [Lawrence]," he said.
What made Johnston want to continue expanding his role in the organization was "seeing what the program does for, you know, kids in the province [of Sask.] We [the volunteers] don't necessarily get to like hand the bears to the children, but we get to see pictures and hear stories, you know, [from] parents, like Ashley."
As vice president, Johnston handles the media side of the organization, comes up with ideas for fundraisers and delivers bears to Regina General Hospital once a month.
Johnston feels his role is about supporting Lawrence the best he can. He added, "it's hard not to, you know, want to continue to work with him [Lawrence] because he's retired, but this is like a full-time job for him, he's doing stuff every single day. So yeah, I want to just be able to do my part [and] do a little bit to help him help the charity, and then, of course, get those teddy bears into the hands of kids across the province."
Parents have told Johnston the teddy bears help "their kid [turn their emotions around from being like [feeling] nervous or scared to you know feeling way more calm. Having this bear with them also helps the parent right [in terms of making them less worried for their child] like it makes the parent calm down when they see their kid is calm as well."
Like many parents, Carnegie can relate to what Johnston said. Johnston himself even gave his son a teddy bear when he had an allergic reaction and went to the hospital. Now, his son keeps the teddy bear close to his side.
The organization's goal to help children through certain times is why so many people want to help them out.
Each year, Teddy Bears Anonymous supplies about 15,000 bears across Sask., which comes to a cost of around $80,000, as each bear is worth about $5.
Despite the large costs, the organization receives large donations from various partners, like the Jim Patterson Children's Hospital.
Other partners are also helping raise awareness of the organization’s existence. Right now, Sherwood Co-op is promoting Teddy Bears Anonymous by asking for $2 donations at any of the tills.
There are also plans for more fundraisers for Teddy Bears Anonymous heading into 2025.
"We have our annual barbecue that we do in June. We haven't like [really] decided exactly when in June. We're also doing this yoga event coming up in January, where people can do yoga. There's gonna be coffee, and there's gonna be dogs from CC RezQ’s, and then it's just gonna raise some money for the charity, and people can come out and do some yoga," said Johnston.
Johnston wants to continue bringing joy to children's faces, supporting those most in need of a companion.
