Bear Hugs

Make a bear. Make a difference

Here are my first three bears I made for a wonderful charity.  It is called Mother Bear Project and was founded by the mother of one of the fraternity members here at my new home. He saw me working on a project and asked if I could knit.  He very casually mentioned that his mom makes teddy bears. This organization has sent over 121,000 handmade bears to children in the past few years.
From the website: "The Mother Bear Project is dedicated to providing comfort and hope to children affected by HIV/AIDS in emerging nations, by giving them a gift of love in the form of a hand-knit or crocheted bear."
It began when Amy read an article and was so moved by it, she wanted to do something to help. Her mother had made knitted teddy bears for her grandchildren from a vintage pattern, so Amy learned to knit, taught her friends to knit, and Mother Bear was born.
All bears must be made from the same basic pattern, but it is amazing how different they are. The pattern is very easy. I am not much of a knitter, and had to watch a few you-tube videos to learn how to pick up stitches for the arms, but the results are great. And anyone's heart will melt when you see photos of the children with their new bears.
I am almost finished with #4. Then I will send my first bears in with money for postage. Hearts will be sewn on each of them and tags included with the maker's name. I plan to finish many more.
When I first heard of this project, it struck my heart. And then I realized that I had read a book a few years ago called "Knitting for Peace" which tells all about it. So, I guess this was one of those projects "meant to be".