This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Community Corner

Teddy Bears Needed for Operation Bear Hug

The youth of the Haddonfield United Methodist Church are seeking teddy bears to comfort young people hospitalized over the holidays.

Tom Lank, the new youth minister at Haddonfield United Methodist Church (HUMC), is taking over the reins of Operation Bear Hug. Since 1998, HUMC members have donated new teddy bears for distribution on Christmas Eve to children staying in the hospital on Christmas. The annual event continues to grow.

"The goal for Christmas 2012 is to deliver approximately 800 teddy bears along with cards from the church to five area hospitals," Lank said. This year, bears will be distributed at Our Lady of Lourdes and Cooper University Hospital in Camden, JFK in Cherry Hill, Virtua in Marlton and Virtua in Voorhees.  

Youth and families deliver bears room-to-room where possible and leftover bears go to the emergency rooms for patients who arrive after the church members leave the hospital.  

Find out what's happening in Haddonfield-Haddon Townshipwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

"If the church could collect more bears, the program could probably grow to include even more hospitals," Lank said. "The church has a waiting list of people who want to deliver the bears on Christmas Eve as an act of Christian love."  

If anyone would like to donate bears, they may drop them off at the church lobby at 29 Warwick Road, Haddonfield by Sunday afternoon, Dec. 23.

Find out what's happening in Haddonfield-Haddon Townshipwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?