RIVERSIDE -- Cuddly teddy bears often have comfort appeal for both children and adults during stressful times.
At many hospices around the country, bears are used for companionship with dying patients and for grief support with families after their loved ones have died. Some hospices collect donations of new bears from the public.
At Geisinger Hospice, volunteers sew "memory bears" made from fabrics of deceased loved ones' clothing.
The bears are donated free to the hospice, whole and without adornment. The hospice volunteers, accomplished sewers, then dress the bear and give it back to the grieving family.
Karen Adams, hospice director, said, "Some folks in our hospice figured it would be nice to offer some families a memorabilia piece to remember a loved one by. After attending a seminar, someone came up with the idea of a memory bear' after seeing what other similar facilities have done. The idea caught on very quickly. That was six months ago."
Two Geisinger Hospice volunteers have been sewing the bears ever since.
"I've completed about 13 by myself, since the program began," noted Joanne Benjamin, of Riverside. The next moment, almost teary-eyed, she added, "This does so much good to help families after their loved ones have died. This is a time when families need help and compassion. Sometimes guidance. Hospice workers do all that, and more."
Benjamin, who learned to sew at the side of her grandmother, said, "the teddy bear program is awesome. I've seen certain individuals, children, who are comforted when we hand them a teddy bear that is decorated with fabric that has meaning to them. A piece of an old, familiar favorite shirt or vest. Pajamas. Each bear gets a heart sewn on."
Hospice volunteers admit that some families are not open to the idea. Some, perhaps, might even find the idea morbid, or insulting.
It's not meant to be so.
As hospice workers work with the families of their patients they get a sense of which ones might like this as a memento. The chaplain or a hospital caseworker are the ones who approach the family, and they are very sensitive to their feelings at this stressful time.
Benjamin's work with hospice started about three years ago.
"My husband's aunt lived with us for a while and she came down with cancer," Benjamin recalled. "She was in hospice for only three days. After she died, I started thinking about volunteering at Geisinger Hospice, but I wasn't ready emotionally. It took about a year before I felt comfortable volunteering. Once I did, I learned that volunteers are well trained. We had classes, and it wasn't long before I started visiting patients at their homes."
Once the word got out that Benjamin and hospice needed teddy bears to work on, she's been surprised by bags of bears anonymously left on her doorstep. "Sometimes, when I come home, I never know what I'm going to find."
At one point, she said, "There were so many bears, I didn't know what to do. I had no place to put them. I work in my extra bedroom."
Her favorite bear so far has been a camouflaged bear.
Her next project involves a bear and a San Francisco 49ers pro football T-shirt. "A little girl and her grandfather would watch all the 49ers games they could together on TV. When he died, the family gave me some of his 49ers paraphernalia to put on a bear. It will go to his granddaughter and I'm sure it will be something she'll always treasure."
Geisinger Hospice is always looking for volunteers. Call 271-5598 for more information and to set up an appointment with the volunteer coordinator.
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Robert Inglis/The Daily Item
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