posted May 12, 2003
Build-A-Bear Workshop is giving Chattanooga kids the opportunity to lift the spirits of patients at T. C. Thompson Children's Hospital by participating in the 3rd annual Stuffed With Hugs day on Saturday, May 17.
The first 200 kids to visit the Hamilton Place Build-A-Bear Workshop on Saturday, will get to make a special teddy bear at no cost. After the bears are stuffed and fluffed with love, they will be donated to T. C. Thompson Children's Hospital to give children in difficult circumstances the ‘extra’ hug they need to help ease their worries.
"We are extremely pleased to be part of the Stuffed With Hugs program with Build-A-Bear Workshop,” says Wallis Davies, Director of the T. C. Thompson Children's Hospital at Erlanger Child Life Department. “Each day my department deals with young patients' non-medical needs, helping to make their visits to the hospital a little less traumatic. We know that hugs, kind words and little extras are important in caring for kids. The bears we receive will brighten the days for many of our patients."
T. C. Thompson Children's Hospital representatives, and Build-A-Bear Workshop’s lovable mascot “Bearemy” will be on hand at Hamilton Place Mall to help make bears.
“Build-A-Bear Workshop is a store for, and about, kids,” said Build-A-Bear Workshop Chief Executive Bear Maxine Clark. “Stuffed With Hugs allows kids to help other kids and put smiles on faces of children at T. C. Thompson Children's Hospital.”
Since its inception in 2001, Stuffed With Hugs events have made and donated over 50,000 bears in cities all across America.
During Stuffed With Hugs, Guests also can purchase beary special hearts for $1 to raise funds to support children’s cancer research and treatment programs. Beary special hearts are part of Build-A-Bear Workshop’s Nikki’s Bear program, a dedicated cause effort to raise awareness and funds for children’s cancer. Funds raised by the Nikki’s Bear program support children’s cancer research and treatment programs through the Build-A-Bear Workshop Foundation.
After Nikki Giampolo lost her life to cancer in 2002, her mother and friends shared her story of courage and hope with Build-A-Bear Workshop. Nikki's story inspired Build-A-Bear Workshop Chief Executive Bear, Maxine Clark to create Nikki's Bear and to dedicate it to Nikki’s wish of helping children with cancer.
Build-A-Bear Workshop sponsors fundraising efforts to support the cause of children's cancer. One dollar of each Nikki's Bear sold and 100% of the funds from beary special heart sales will go to support children's cancer research and treatment programs and to help families of children with cancer.
Established in 1929 and the first designated Level I Pediatric Trauma Center in Tennessee, T. C. Thompson Children's Hospital at Erlanger is a Comprehensive Regional Pediatric Center, the highest designation in the state for pediatrics. Children's Hospital's comprehensive services include:
* Emergency Department (updated and remodeled in 2002)
* Pediatric Intensive Care Unit
* LIFE FORCE Air Ambulance and Neonatal Ground Transport
* Children's Surgery, Outpatient Surgery and Laboratory
* Level III Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, the highest level of care available in the region for premature and sick infants.
* Comprehensive Pediatric Cancer Center, where an affiliation with national research centers provides the highest level of care, meaning over 90% of children with cancer in the region can receive their treatment right here
* As the only hospital in the region with a full complement of pediatric subspecialists, the areas of specialization include Cardiology and Cardiovascular Surgery, Critical Care, Endocrinology, Pulmonology, Gastroenterology, Genetics, Surgery, Neonatalogy Psychology, Neurology, Radiology, Therapy Services (Audiology, Physical, Occupational and Speech) and Orthopedics
Families within a 150-mile radius depend on T. C. Thompson Children's Hospital, the only facility of its kind in the region.
The Build-A-Bear Workshop Foundation is committed to improving communities and impacting lives through meaningful philanthropic programs that support causes for children and families. Proceeds from the sales of Nikki’s Bear and affiliated programs will be distributed though the Build-A-Bear Workshop Foundation to fund children’s cancer research and treatment programs.
Build-A-Bear Workshop is an interactive, entertainment mall-based retailer that invites Guests of all ages to create their own customized stuffed animals through an exciting bear-making assembly line that combines experience with purchase. The company currently operates 110+ stores in 34 states, including a very successful e-commerce business and will have over 150 locations in the USA by the end of 2003. Build-A-Bear Workshop is the innovator and leader of the make-your-own-stuffed animal concept for mall-based retailing. The premier store opened Saint Louis, Missouri in October 1997. For more information, call (888) 560-BEAR.
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