4th Annual Teddy Bear Drive for Boston Children’s Hospital In Loving Memory of Ella O’Donnell

For the past 3 years, with the help of some pretty amazing people, my family and I have collected over 1200 stuffed animals for Boston Children’s Hospital. When we first started this Teddy Bear Drive, it was because my mom wanted to teach me and my brother the true meaning of Christmas. She thought it was important for us to understand that not all children are as fortunate as we are. So she started an event page on facebook in hopes to gain 50 bears to deliver to Children’s Hospital in Boston on Christmas Eve. The support we received warmed my heart and showed me that there are so many generous people in the world. That year we exceeded our goal gaining over 100 bears. Last year, my family and I had the opportunity to deliver over 700 bears to not only the kids at Children’s in Boston but to the Children’s outpatient facility in Peabody as well.

For the second year, my family and I are dedicating the Teddy Bear Drive in loving memory of Ella O’Donnell. Ella was a 10 year old girl from Peabody who lost her battle with cancer. Ella touched so many lives, many of whom she never even met. She was a strong, beautiful, graceful little girl gone way too soon. One of our hopes is to not only to collect bears for Children’s but to also raise awareness for pediatric cancer. Pediatric cancer affects 1 in 285 children that’s 43 kids per day. It is the leading cause of death amongst children. The average stay in the hospital for a child with cancer is $40,000. Only 4% of the government's cancer research funding goes to study pediatric cancer and their are fewer than 10 drugs that have been developed to help kids with cancer. When you are making your donation this year please keep the O’Donnell family in your prayers, along with all of the other angels who got their wings way too soon.

Donations for the drive will be collected starting Monday, November 27th until Wednesday, December 20th. You can donated a NEW and UNWRAPPED stuffed animal (It doesn’t have to just be a teddy bear) in the drop off box outside of the main office. For more information on how you can get involved, contact us at ayles615@gmail.com or on our facebook page “Teddy Bear Drive For Boston Children’s Hospital”. You can also add us on snapchat to see the progress of our bear collections @bostonbeardrive.