{"id":3438,"date":"2022-12-16T14:21:12","date_gmt":"2022-12-16T19:21:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/?p=3438"},"modified":"2022-12-16T14:21:12","modified_gmt":"2022-12-16T19:21:12","slug":"inspire-glenda-stowell-care-bear-team-provides-comfort-to-hospitalized-children","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/?p=3438","title":{"rendered":"Inspire: Glenda Stowell – Care Bear Team provides comfort to hospitalized children"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Alyssa Dearborn<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Since its founding in 2011, The Bear Team has brought over 14,700 Build-a-Bear stuffed animals to children receiving care and treatment at Golisano Children\u2019s Hospital. The bears serve not only as companions and comfort objects for the children, but also as reminders that the children and their families are not alone in their difficult time. Making sure that new bears arrive at the hospital each month is a mission that Glenda Stowell, her husband, and the team of volunteers dedicate themselves to on a daily basis.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve always been a busy person and we do keep busy.\u201d Glenda replied when asked about how she started the organization, \u201cAnd what happened was we went to Golisano Children\u2019s Hospital \u2013 it had just opened up \u2013 to see if they needed any help. They were looking to do something for these poor kids who come in for surgery. Some are flown in, and they\u2019re scared and they have nothing. So we decided on the Build-a-Bear program. And once we got home, my husband and I talked about it. And our first delivery was for 40 bears. Since then, we now deliver about 200 a month\u2026And we do it every single month and I am proud to say we\u2019ve never missed a month through COVID. And let me tell you, it was hard.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

In order to raise enough money, sew enough bear-sized scrubs, and collect enough stuffed Build-a-Bear plushes for The Bear Team\u2019s monthly drops, Glenda works with about 25 volunteers. These volunteers help with essential tasks including sewing, fundraising, and finding opportunities for the organization.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cSo many of our volunteers work out of their homes, giving all of their love and time at least one day here, most often two days a week this time of year,\u201d she said about the team.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

When asked how the monthly bear drives are organized, she reinforced how the operation is a team effort.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHow do I organize? Working 24 hours a day!\u201d She laughed, \u201cWe have a team effort. We all work together. Somebody knows about a craft fair, they call me. They co do the craft fair. We had a big raffle, that\u2019s our main focus. So if anybody wants to help, they can go and call any of the phone numbers that are on Facebook. That\u2019s the best thing. They go to Facebook and they can find out what we do, what we need. That\u2019s our big organizational thing, I guess.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

A major part of The Bear Team\u2019s mission involves sewing small scrubs to dress up each bear as a nurse or doctor. The crafting heavily relies on both volunteer time and fabric donations.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI have a great person who takes care of the sewing and she organizes with who sews and what they turn in. We, of course, ask for materials. We don\u2019t have to buy it much because we\u2019re really lucky with people donating. They seem to find us when, maybe when somebody [who sews] in their family passes or gets sick and can\u2019t do that anymore. They give us all their stuff.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re making do.\u201d Glenda continued, \u201cWe\u2019re buying a lot of baskets. And one of the things we do for organization is that everything that comes in is cleaned, we put it in baskets, so when the sewer comes in and needs the material, they have that. We did not have that until our sewer came on. It\u2019s been a big help. It\u2019s allowed us to grow more.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Despite all the hard work that comes with surprising and comforting ill children with new teddy bears, the outcome is both rewarding and heartwarming for Glenda and her team.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s the pictures we get from the kids and their moms with them holding the bears, thanking us. It\u2019s the little things to us. Like, oh my goodness, this is a wonderful thing, when a mother just wanted to give you a thank you. Little things,\u201d Glenda said, when asked what the most rewarding part of the organization\u2019s work is. \u201cWe had a little boy send us his money he\u2019d earned and saved all year so he could give back because he had gotten a bear. It\u2019s the little things that come back and I hear with all the girls. And that\u2019s the feeling of you\u2019re doing something that helps somebody else. And not only the child who received the bear, but the family as well. When that child cuddles into that bear, it\u2019s such a relief to the parent.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

If you are interested in donating or becoming a volunteer with The Bear Team, contact Glenda Stowell at 315-298-5308 or at <\/span><\/span>cnybearteam@aol.com<\/u><\/span><\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Alyssa Dearborn Since its founding in 2011, The Bear Team has brought over 14,700 Build-a-Bear stuffed animals to children receiving care and treatment at Golisano Children\u2019s Hospital. The bears serve not only as companions and comfort objects for the children, but also as reminders that the children and their families are not alone in…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":3439,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1143],"tags":[1346,1330,1345,1348,1347],"class_list":["post-3438","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-inspire","tag-care-bears","tag-december-2022","tag-glenda-stowell","tag-nonprofit","tag-the-bear-team"],"gutentor_comment":0,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/Glenda-Stowe.jpg?fit=1776%2C2272&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2217,"url":"https:\/\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/?p=2217","url_meta":{"origin":3438,"position":0},"title":"Inspire: Juli Boeheim, SU basketball\u2019s mother figure","author":"Staff","date":"January 3, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"By Matthew Gutierrez The wife of one of the most recognizable figures in Central New York is standing inside her kitchen, but her thoughts are elsewhere. 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