The Joe Joe Bear Foundation, a non profit devoted to providing teddy bears to children with life threatening illnesses to comfort them while they are in the hospital and away from their families, is seeking funding donations to continue their services.
The funding will be used to buy more teddy bears and grow the nonprofit to offer their services to more hospitals throughout the state of Texas, which is where the non profit works with hospitals and medical centers. Founder of the Joe Joe Bear Foundation, Jeanette Maurer says the non profit hopes to one day be able to provide teddy bears to hospitals all around the nation. The non-profit has had inquiries from hospitals outside of Texas, but they were not able to meet the demand for the amount of teddy bears they would be shipping out, so they have created a waiting list for hospitals and medical centers.
Every year the foundation purchases a twenty-foot container of teddy bears for $40,000, which comes with 5,500 teddy bears. This purchase enables the non-profit to help 5,500 children every year. One of the initial goals in seeking funding donations is bringing in $100,000 for the purchase of new teddy bears and various programs. The foundation welcomes donations large and small as they all help contribute to the recovery, continuation, and expansion of Joe Joe Bears work with sick children across Texas. One of the initiatives that will benefit from the funding is the emergency bear program that see’s Joe Joe Bear send teddy bears directly to ill children across the nation that the foundation have been made aware of. Despite recent budget constraints the emergency bear program has continued to comfort children and the foundation hopes to expand its reach with the funds raised.
The Joe Joe Bear Foundation has been highly successful since its founding in 2009 but following the COVID19 Pandemic, the non profit has faced ongoing struggles. During the pandemic, the foundation had to quit accepting in-kind donations of teddy bears and had to begin purchasing all of them with their own funding. This was done to ensure the bears met safety requirements to be germ free when given to children in hospitals. The non-profit is still currently using this method, which has increased the cost of teddy bears by 80%. The suppliers of the teddy bears individually wrap each bear upon production.
Due to these setbacks, the Joe Joe Bear Foundation has transitioned to an all volunteer basis. To continue bringing in awareness for the mission of helping critically ill children, the non profit is hosting an annual golf tournament and casino night. Additionally, the nonprofit holds fundraising events in September and October.
According to Maurer, the bears that are given to children in the hospitals and medical centers have had a great impact on cheering up the children and bringing comfort to them.
“We don’t get to see the children because they have compromised immune systems, but the hospital staff that we work with have told me the bears have had a huge impact on the children because they can be taken into surgery where their parents or families can’t go, and when the children wake up the teddy bears are there with them,” says Maurer.
Media Contact:
Name: Jeanette Maurer
Email: [email protected]
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