Teddy Bears From Glenview Seniors Comfort Kids

GLENVIEW, IL — For the past 18 years, a group of senior citizens in Glenview has been making teddy bears for kids in hospital, offering comfort and a smile to thousands of kids in the process Last year alone, 792 stuffed flannel bears produced by the group were delivered to emergency rooms in the Chicago area, WGN reported.

Organizer Martha Demko, the 95-year-old chief of the Sewing Club, told the station this year they're on track to make even more.

"I have a whole crew of really nice ladies," Demko said. She explained she's motivating by a desire to bring a smile to the face of children during difficult times — like arriving at the ER.

"They're crying they don't know what's happening to them or anything," she said. "That's sad."

The ladies of the East Wing Glenview Senior Center Sewing Club build the bears from scratch, buying all the supplies, hand stuffing them, and sewing every stitch, according to WGN. The club sews two days a week, and on other days its members sell craft items to raise money.

"They raise the money to buy the flannel, to buy the stuffing, because those items are expensive," senior center staffer Denise Blinick told the station. "So they raise all that money so that they have the money to do the charity work."

» See more via WGN

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