Ideal Gift Solution

If you wonder what to give for Christmas, birthdays, and other special occasions, why not begin (and possibly end) with a sure bet? Teddy bears are loved by young and old, men and women alike. A teddy bear can be the ultimate gift. After all, these little creatures are cuddly and they are adorable.

You can select from valuable collectibles, or you can simply choose a cute Teddy Bear from your local department store.

Teddy Bears are an ideal gift for anyone that is ill. Whether your loved is homebound due to an illness or injury, or they are confined to a hospital bed, an adorable Teddy Bear is sure to brighten their surroundings and their mood.

Children often consider Teddy Bears to be their nighttime buddies. A soft Teddy Bear can be a great sleeping companion. And of course, Teddy Bears are the ideal friend when it comes to keeping secrets. It’s no wonder that many of us still have our cherished childhood Teddy Bears.

If you happen to be in love and you’re looking for a unique way to propose, why not let a Teddy Bear help? A Teddy Bear could hold a card that says the magical words and asks that all important question. In fact, Teddy Bears can be used to deliver the engagement ring. Simply attach the ring to the bear in a creative way.

Other ideas include putting earrings, bracelets, and other jewelry on a gift Teddy Bear. The idea is, the Teddy Bear holds the jewelry, and delivers it in a special way. The Teddy Bear itself becomes a treasured keepsake of the special occasion.

Just as a Teddy Bear can be used to deliver a marriage proposal, they can be used to ask other questions or to deliver important messages. This could be news about a special adventure or purchase, or even a much needed apology. The Teddy Bear is a great way to touch someone’s heart in a special way. And as mentioned, the message in the card held by the Teddy Bear may be your real gift, but the Teddy Bear itself will become the keepsake of the occasion.

So if you are wondering what to give someone – start with a reliable gift. Everybody loves Teddy Bears. When you use an adorable Teddy Bear as the foundation for your gift – you can’t go wrong!

And The Connection

Children are innocent and free of blame. That is why it hurts adults when they are sick, hurt or afraid. We feel better when we are able to soothe them and make the bad go away. There are times when even our devout love can do nothing to help the pain and heartache a child may be feeling. When a child must undergo tests or an operation at the hospital. Parents are not allowed to be with the child while these necessary procedures are being performed. The child will often feel afraid, alone and abandoned.

It has been proven time, and again, the act of giving the child a teddy bear to hold and cuddle takes a good measure of these feelings away. There are several groups who give teddy bears to hospitals so they can be given to sick and frightened children.

Good Bears of the World is a non-profit organization which gives teddy bears to children of all ages, when love, and comfort will make a difference. Last year Good Bears of the world gave out 20,000 teddy bears to victims of tornados, floods, hurricanes, and domestic violence. The bears were also given to many sick, underprivileged, and injured children. This list also includes lonely senior citizens. The teddy bears are given to policemen, firemen, psychologists, emergency workers, and grief counselors who have discovered the healing power the bears have on victims of trauma. Good bears is responsible for giving bears to the survivors of 9-11, the Oklahoma bombing, and the crash of TWA flight 800. If you would like to contribute to Good Bears of the World, the address is:

Good Bears of the World

P.O. Box 13097

Toledo, OH 43613

The Vermont Teddy Bear Company has a Big Hero, Little Hero program. The mission of this program: To make sure every child has a Teddy Bear to hug when he or she needs one the most. The Vermont Teddy bear company and donations make it possible to donate teddy bears to police departments, fire houses and rescue personnel so they may distribute them to children in need. The bears are 13 inch and for every specially designed teddy bear bought through VTBC, 2 bears will be given to help a child.

Other organizations have given teddy bears to children.

The Thorndike Press, located just down the road from Inland Hospital in Maine, donated 600 teddy bears to the hospital. These bears will be given to children who are sick, hurt, or frightened. The company pulled together holding a silent auction, bake sales, and hosting a drawing, among other activities. The proceeds were used to buy the teddy bears. Although Thorndike Press gives a charitable donation every year, it was decided to give the bears to Inland because of the sister of an employee. The child was in the hospital and given a bear to hold before having a treatment. Afterward the unconscious child was still clutching the bear tightly.

The next time you think about giving, think about the teddy bear and how far he can go to help a child in need of comfort.

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In 1902 when President Theodore Roosevelt was in Mississippi to settle a border dispute between Louisiana and Mississippi. While there he went on a hunting trip. Members of the hunting party tied a small, black bear cub to a tree for him to shoot. Seeing how helpless the small bear was he refused.

The next day cartoonist, Clifford Berryman, drew a cartoon depicting Roosevelt refusing to shoot the bear. This prompted shopkeeper, Morris Michtom, asked his wife, Rose, to make a teddy bear to place in his shop window. Morris Michtom contacted the President asking his permission to name the stuffed bear, Teddy. The president agreed and the Teddy Bear was born.

At the same time in Germany, a company owned by Margarete Steiff, was beginning to manufacture a stuffed bear of it’s own. These were the first time stuffed bears were introduced to the world.

From there the popularity of the teddy bear grew. Today almost all children have had a teddy bear at one time or another. Today you will find toy manufacturers, teddy bear artists, and stores selling teddy bears of all shapes and sizes. Gund(r) is a leading manufacturer of soft toys, and is in the same league as The Vermont Teddy Bear Factory when it comes to quality. You can check them out at: www.gund.com, and www.vermontteddybear.com.

Quite a few teddy bear artists have sites on the internet where you can view their teddy bears online.

The teddy bears on, www.tbears.de, are the some of the most expressive, unique teddy bears you will find anywhere. The Lovable Fellows are one-of-a-kind or limited editions. Hours are spent creating each bears face. This gives each bear his own personality traits. If you want to adopt one of these Lovable Fellows you should check them out quickly. Most of the teddy bears on this site have already been adopted. When you visit, www.theoriginalpakabear.com, you will find unique, one of a kind teddy bears made of Alpaca. These bears come in many different colors and some of them are multi-colored.

The site, www.settlerbears.com.au, features one of a kind bears inspired by the island of Australia.

The web site, www.designsbyterri.com, is a fantastic place to find miniature teddy bears. Domino, is a 2 3/4″ tall bent knee bear of black and white, made of upholstery velvet. This tiny teddy comes with his own die cast, taxi pedal car.

On the site, www.tailoredteddies.com, you will find many one of a kind teddies. This site has many fantastic bears. You really don’t want to pass this one by. If you have been thinking about starting a teddy bear collection, you should visit: www.bearhollow.net. This teddy bear collector has opened her home to many adopted teddy bears. Teddy bears reside in every room of the house and some outdoor ports as well. There are also rooms dedicated to bears only. The history of the teddy bear is wonderful and heartwarming. To think of how many thousands of teddy bears have been loved and held by children who considered them a best friend, confidant, protector, and constant companion, it is no wonder they are still the most popular soft toy today.

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The teddy bear has been in existence for over 100 years. In that time he has had books written about him. The adventures of Winnie the Pooh is a series of books written by A.A. Milne, about an adventurous teddy bear. Pooh, and his friends, Christopher Robin, Rabbit, Tigger, Owl, Piglet, Eeyore, Kanga and Roo, have great adventures in the hundred acre wood.

Paddington Bear’s creator, Michael Bond, has written several books about the teddy bear who comes from darkest Peru, and now resides with the brown family at 32 Windsor Gardens. Paddington is a teddy bear with both paws planted on the ground. He has strong feelings on what is right and what is wrong, and hates bureaucratic red tape. He doesn’t look kindly on the sillier rules human beings surround themselves with. About his daily life Paddington says, “Things happen to me. I’m that sort of bear.” Paddington may conduct himself in a human way, but he could never be human. As he is fond of saying, “It just wouldn’t work.”

The Care Bears Have had books written about them. Care bears are teddy bears. Each one has a message and a lesson to teach us about how we should conduct our lives. Each Care Bear has a personal motif on their tummies and a personal motto they dedicate their lives to.

Rupert, that mischievous bear who got his start as a comic strip in a London newspaper(and still appears there), has had books about him called Annuals, put together yearly, of the comic strips appearing in the paper the entire year. This has been going on for a good 50 plus years.

As far as poems go, Pooh and The Care Bears have had poetry written about them. I’m not sure about Paddington Bear and Rupert, but I wouldn’t be a bit surprised.

Not only have the teddy bears mentioned above been written about and drawn, they all have their own animated television shows. Check out the listings on PBS, BBC, The Disney Channel and other station where cartoons are shown. You may also want to look for Yogi and Boo-Boo bear on Boomerang. Baloo, from The Jungle Book, has his own cartoon called Tailspins, you can find his show on some of the above mentioned cartoon stations.

Other, less famous teddy bears can be found living in houses(like Paddington Bear), Museums, stores, web sites, and factories waiting to be adopted. There are many talented teddy bear artists and manufacturers, who have brought some pretty amazing bears to life.

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Every child deserves a teddy bear to hug when the world gets too painful, lonely or sad. Teddy bears are there to watch over them when the dark is too spooky, they need a best friend or their lives become unstable. There are many charitable organizations out there and they are all working toward the same goal, to put a teddy bear into the arms of a deserving child.

The Vermont Teddy Bear Company started the Big Hero, Little Hero Program in September of 2002, to give children across the country a teddy bear to hug when they need one the most. More than 11 million children are transported by emergency services each year. The Vermont Teddy bear company and outside donations, provide specially designed, 13″ teddy bears to provided to emergency service professionals around the country free of charge. Interested parties can participate in this charity by purchasing one of the specially made bears. For every bear bought, The Vermont Teddy Bear Company will donate two bears to an emergency service station in need. These bears are also given to lonely seniors.

The Inland Hospital in Maine, was donated 600 teddy bears to give to children who come in for tests, illness, trauma or with other patients. Thorndike press, located just down the road from Inland Hospital, was able to buy the bears with money earned from a silent auction, bake sales and other activities. The decision for Thorndike to donate the bears was reached after a younger sister of one of the employees was given a bear when she had to attend the hospital.

You may want to start a charitable teddy bear drive in your community, to help put a teddy bear into the arms of every child.

The first step is to recruit others, of like mind, to help you. Let’s face it, this a big undertaking for one person. You may also want to get area schools and churches involved. Elementary school students make great recruits, as the entire class (or school) can work together to make money to purchase the teddy bears. Churches like to get involved in charity, especially when it is for children.

Get together with friends and plan some money making activities. A Bowl-a-thon, walk-a-thon, spaghetti dinner, Pancake Breakfast, Bake Sale, auction, rummage sale, or street carnival are all excellent ways to raise money for your teddy bears. You and your group, will need to set a time limit on donations and money collected. For instance, you may want to have enough money to buy the teddy bears by Christmas. You must also decide before you begin, where you will distribute the bears.

While you are raising the money, you should look around to find the best place to purchase the teddy bears when the money is collected. It is a very rewarding experience to give a teddy bear to a child. The look on their face when they see the soft, cuddly teddy, is worth ten times the effort it takes to get the bear. The first time you see a child grab the toy and hug it tight, will be one of the happiest of your life.

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