This 9-year-old’s teddy bear mission is bringing joy to hospitalized children. The young man saw a need and a mission field and took real, concrete steps in order to fulfill that need. Watch the short but tear-jerking clip to hear how one caring, tender-hearted and entrepreneurial little guy is helping to put smiles on the faces of children in hospitals.
Life is not often fair. Things will crop up out of nowhere, even through no fault or decision of our own. Situations and circumstances can arise without a moment’s warning and completely alter the trajectory of our lives. This can happen for the best, and sadly, it can also occur for the worst.
Despite how horrible and gut-wrenching life can be at times, there is no situation worse than seeing a child suffer. Those St. Jude Hospital commercials, featuring children with cancer, can and do emotionally wreck people. No child should have to go through something like that, but unfortunately, it happens every day.
But what if there was something that could be done to put even a momentary smile on the face of a child in the hospital?
A clip posted on YouTube tells the story of Jack’s Bravery Bears. It’s an organization, started by a 9-year-old, with a straightforward mission: “collecting and delivering hundreds of stuffed teddy bears to children at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio.”
So, where and how did Jack, the loving and caring young man, come up with his mission? It came to him while he was doing something else for the hospitalized children. The clip mentions that he was making blankets for the children when the inspiration for Jack’s Bravery Bears struck.
“I said, ‘Wouldn’t it be fun if the kids at Nationwide had a teddy bear to go with their blanket?’ Jack said. “And then, I started collecting teddy bears.”
Jack understands that the youngsters in the hospital are going through “a lot” and mentioned that he “just wanted to give them a boost of confidence.”
What an incredibly sweet young man with a heart for those sick and hurting.
Philippians 2:4 “Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others.”