Members of the Blair High School Student Senate found a warm and fuzzy way to bring cheer to children battling illnesses.
The BHS Student Senate is hosting a teddy bear drive now through March 9. The teddy bears, which will be donated to Omaha Children's Hospital, must be new and can be dropped off at the BHS office or given to a student to bring to the school. Monetary donations are also being accepted.
Student Senate president Kolton Hammer said the students wanted to do something to help the young patients.
“We see on the news about how they are all (kept) in their hospital rooms and they don't have many people to talk to so a teddy bear would be nice for them to have,” he said.
The drive was announced to students Thursday, but donations have already been coming in. Hammer and vice president MaKenzie Mencke said they hope to collect enough bears to fill “the pits” in the BHS commons.
Student Senate adviser Brian Sandall said he received a donation Wednesday after a woman heard him explaining the project to a clerk at Walgreens. The woman told Sandall she drives by the hospital often and thinks of the children. She asked if she could donate.
“She bought some on the spot and gave them to me, which is super cool,” he said. “I don't know who she was, but she bought teddy bears and I brought them.”
Sandall said the teddy bear project is student driven.
“At meetings, we have brainstorming sessions essentially. They put up ideas,” he said. “Their ideas have been great. The whole group comes up with them. We've done all kinds of things.”
The students have created Valentine's Day cards for Crowell Home residents, stars with students' names on them and someday hope to host a senior citizen prom.
“They've done some really cool projects. They just come up with these ideas. I just let them run pretty much,” Sandall said.
