We are coming to LA March 21-23. We'll be at the Cayton Children's Museum in Santa Monica 3/21 & 3/22, handing out teddy bears to children who were affected by the Palisades fire. Then on Sunday 3/23 we're bringing a little comfort & teddy bears to the children of Altadena. Sunday at 11am we’ll be at St. Elizabeth Church - 1879 N. Lake Avenue, Altadena, CA 91001. Right now we're gathering teddy bears, hand written notes to attach to the bears, and of course donations. Stay tuned for details!
Projects
TEDDY BEAR PROJECT COMING TO 2 LOCATIONS IN LA
A burnt out school bus is seen at the fire-damaged Aveson Charter School. (Fredric J. Brown/AFP via Getty Images)
Fire ravages a neighborhood in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of LA on January 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)
Teddy Bear Project Goes To Bethlehem
Upcoming Events with the Holy Land Trust - From Trauma to Hope. This year will be a very special gift exchange for 110 Kindergarten kids.
This Christmas, a heartfelt connection between children in the USA and Palestine comes to life through a unique gift exchange. 110 kindergarten children in Palestine will receive teddy bears sent by kids from organization Children of the Earth USA. Each bear comes with a personalized Christmas note, spreading love, joy, and the true spirit of the season across borders. This initiative serves as a beautiful reminder of how acts of kindness can bring hope and happiness to young hearts.
Pictures below show Muslim & Christian children in Bethlehem getting Teddy Bears with loving notes attached written by kids from the US, including St. Mary's School in Alton, Illinois
Teddy Bear Project goes to Asheville, NC
We all have our comforts— your favorite sweatpants, special mug, or that worn-in chair you sink into after a long day. Whatever it is, you return to it because it helps you reset. Now imagine that in the blink of an eye, it's all washed away, along with everything you own; and all your heart longs for is something familiar.
In October 2024, we're traveling to Asheville, NC, one of Hurricane Helene's hardest-hit areas. We'll provide teddy bears to displaced and traumatized children who have experienced heartbreaking loss. We're bringing much-needed hugs, smiles, and that special familiar magic only a teddy bear brings.
Ahead of the trip, we are busy preparing the bears for their new homes. We have enlisted the help of volunteer kids who are busy creating personal notes to accompany the teddy bears, in addition to the bears, the child receives someone to connect with…and they will see the real people behind the bears who care about them.
If you'd like to help, please donate by clicking the DONATE button at the top of the page.
We'll be collecting more teddy bears in the future - but for now, we're set up to buy and donate them.
Just $35.00 covers the cost of (1) bear + shipping.
THANK YOU & please share this link with others who want to help
Teddy Bear Project goes to Israel & Gaza.
We have been all around the world to bring comfort and teddy bears where they are most needed. Past events include NYC after 9/11, Katrina, Uganda, Rwanda, Haiti, Syria, Thailand and Ukraine.
In October we are going to Israel to commemorate 1 year since the tragic events of October 7th. There are thousands of traumatized and displaced children and orphans who need to know someone cares about them. We are also going to send teddy bears to the children of Gaza. They are all the innocent victims of war.
With your help, we can bring a little bit of love to these innocent victims suffering trauma during trying times. Let them know that you care and that they are not being forgotten.
- Your Teddy Bear will be given to children in Israel and later in Gaza and the West Bank.
- The proceeds will provide Teddy Bears and personalized notecards and shipping costs if needed.
- Each Teddy Bear has a personalized caring notecard with artwork by many students from around the world.
- These young people aspire to become ‘pen pals' with the children who have suffered the ravages of war.
Update
KIDS CARING FOR KIDS AFTER LA FIRES - MARCH 2025
We spent 3 incredible days of action in LA. Hundreds of cards were made & teddy bears given out. First we were at the Cayton Children's Museum in Santa Monica for 2 days, with kids (& some parents helping) making cards and attaching them to over 400 bears. There were kids from the Palisades fire who not only received teddy bears, but also wanted to help make cards for other kids.
Then on Sunday, we went to Altadena and gave out hundreds of bears at St. Elizabeth Church. One little girl made sure that she got a teddy bear to give to her friend, and one for her brother, before she even took one for herself. We have a lot to learn from angels like her. Helping others before ourselves.
The church school's Principal, Dr. Phyllis Cremer, gave us a tour of the heartbreaking devastation. Then Rotary President Mark Mariscal invited us to his newly rented home, for a gathering of friends, family & even their city Councilperson, who also lost their homes in the fires. It was both heartwarming, and heartbreaking to see the kids clutching onto the bears they had just received, with one mom telling us, that her son hasn’t let it go since he got it earlier at the church. There is a wonderful sense of community, in both Altadena and the Palisades/Santa Monica. People are coming together and working together to get through this. And they will…with a little help from their friends.
Hope Comes To Asheville NC: December 2024
This December, our Teddy Bear Project team distributed about 120 bears to children traumatized by the devastating effects of Hurricane Helene. Working with local officials and the local United Way, we visited 4 different locations:
- Ira B Jones Elementary School - kindergarten class
- William Randolph School - community outreach
- Insbruck Mall Comfort Station - community outreach
- Odyssey School - kindergarten class (whose teacher died as a result of Hurricane Helene)
In the spirit of KIDS CARING FOR KIDS - Ira B.Jones Elementary School is interested in writing notes for use in future teddy bear distributions! Amazing that they're already thinking of helping others, while going through their own hardships!
Take a look at a video Teddy Bear Project team member Becky Suzik put together:
UPDATE - ISRAEL: December 2024
We thank you for providing us with two hundred stuffed bears. Our organization, Oct7KIDS, is dedicated to the mental health and psychological well-being of our Israeli children who have been impacted by the Oct. 7, 2023 massacre and resulting war.
Distribution of stuffed animals might seem like a far cry from the therapies we offer, but truth be told, in the dark of night, tears wetting a young face, hugging a fuzzy friend is somehow a warm comfort. No, it may not be a long-term solution, or substitute for a missing relative, BUT a child feels in that moment, a bit of control in the action of that hug. So we thank you sincerely for that.
We are giving the bears out diligently. I understand that in other areas like Ukraine and Africa, you gave them out on a large scale in villages, orphanages, and the like. We are doing it a little bit differently, by contact with individual hostage families, active IDF families, children of wounded, evacuees, etc.
We also have a system where we are sending bears to orphans on their birthday. These are children of IDF soldiers who have fell in battle of this war. The messages written on the cards around the bears' necks, written by other Israeli youngsters, remind them all that they matter, that they are loved, and not alone.
Chanukah is right around the corner. Oct7KIDS plan to make a thing of the bears. Money is in short supply here in Israel, so we think it will be a boost to some children's holiday. We will keep you updated on those activities. May we continue to work together on our mutual concerns for Israeli children.
Yeshara Gold
Mother of Sagi Rubenstein, who was killed a few weeks ago in Lebanon. Yeshara delivering bears to his mom in Petach Tikva, Israel. She will bring the package of bears to the widow, and several children living at Kibbutz Lavi, where the family lives.
Press
Thank You