Donating Teddy Bears to Children in the Hospital - A Heart-Warming Experience

Children are admitted to hospitals and clinics around the world every day. Doctors, nurses, medical professionals, clergy and hospital staff provide them with the best primary care possible. As family and friends of a child in the hospital, the best medicine we can give is love... but not all hospitalized children have that luxury. That's where teddy bear power comes in!

Hospitals are never "fun" places for children. Whether they are there just for an hour, the day or they have to stay overnight or longer for treatment or recovery, it can be a frightening place. They often have to leave their favorite toys at home or can only bring a few with them.

Teddy bears and other cuddly critters can actually reduce stress, anxiety, boredom and help kids recover faster. Doctors and nurses will often use stuffed animals to demonstrate a procedure to a child. Therapists sometimes use them as part of a patient's treatment. They may also be used in hospital playrooms, distributed to comfort and entertain a child during their hospital stay or given as a special gift to celebrate the completion of a procedure or a significant event such as a birthday or holiday when a child is in the hospital.

Kind-hearted people who want to donate teddy bears to hospitals must do a little homework first. Because medical professionals have to be concerned with the risks of harmful bacteria and viruses, most hospitals will only accept new stuffed animals and toys as donations. Some hospitals further restrict the type of fabric, fill and how eyes are attached to plush animal donations because of allergen and safety concerns.

Before donating on your own, it is always a good idea to find a place that will accept your donations first. Call your local children's hospital and ask them what their policy is on donating plush animals and other toys. You may also find this information on the hospital's website under "gifts in kind." Ask about any required paperwork, size and quantity limitations and where and when you can deliver your donations.

After you find an acceptable place to donate to, there are several ways to get the word out that you are collecting stuffed animals for children in the hospital. Church and social groups, local fire departments, libraries and schools are great places to start.

As an alternative to giving new stuffed animals, there are several organizations that will accept your monetary donations, purchase the bears for you and donate them on your behalf. Teddy Bears That Care ( www.teddybearsthatcare.org ) is one example.

You will always get a good feeling inside when you do something for others, especially if you are helping a child. Although you may never actually meet the recipient of your gift, you can imagine the smile you'll put on a child's face when they meet their cuddly new friend. Just thinking about that cannot help but make you smile too.

View larger auction at Christie's of Steiff stuffed animals!

A small collection of luxury teddy bears and toys Steiff pounds for selling more than a huge million euro, for a total of £ 1,000,800, which Christie's is a record for a sale of toys in the world famous auction house.

More than 220 candidates were present at auction attracted a large number of telephone and online bidders from around the world. to be auctioned the collection of stuffed animals covered a range of dates 1890-1970 and was said to have been in aShame hedge fund manager, pleaded guilty, had charges of fraud in the United States. The identity of the owner of the collection has not been revealed how the money was urgently needed for a solution, even if the collection was adopted collected were of "scientific curiosity".

During the auction tensions were high as the private collection of 1,300 Steiff toy that looked just sold. One of the toys, a teddy bear Harlequin, circa 1925, sold for £ 46,850 andother soft toy animals, a 1920 Steiff Fox in a fur coat, which sold for £ 21,250. The rabbits have been shown to be as popular as dogs. The sale, everything from insects to dinosaurs.

The Steiff bear from Germany and was in the late 19th Century. The collection is famous for his hand ready to bears, elephants, rabbits and other animals. Each real animal stuffed animal "a button in the ear," says show that its markAuthenticity.

This auction marks a historic moment for the collection of stuffed animals and teddy bears the world - in fact has been emphasized, the largest ever developed by a stuffed toy specialists.