Some people make clothes for babies, and some people even make clothes for their dogs.
But there aren't many people who make clothes for teddy bears.
And nobody makes clothes for teddy bears quite like the women at Christ Church Apartments on Rose Street.
The teddy bears are part of a new program sponsored by the Family Care Fellowship of the-Lexington Fire Department. The bears travel throughout the city, comforting children who have the misfortune of riding in-ambulances.
On May 26, the women accepted the Kentucky regional Audree Carter "Making a Difference" Award in Louisville, in recognition of their contribution to the Fayette County Fire Department. The women worked with the fire-department to design and sew clothes for the teddy bears.
This past spring, Lexington Fire Department Chaplain Stewart Dawson went to the women and asked if they would be interested in helping with the project.
"I wanted the bears to be-personalized and not generic," Dawson said. "But when I came to them, we had neither money nor bears."
That same day, Patsy Dennis donated three boxes of bears. Those bears became the first in the newly dubbed Heroes Healing Hurts Teddy Bear Program.
Each bear bears the Lexington Fire Department logo and wears a unique outfit. The women donate all of the material for the clothing and try to be creative when dressing the bears.
Charlott Reynolds, special service-director at Christ Church Apartments, said one of the design inspirations came from a pair of jeans cut off one resident by paramedics on an emergency trip to the hospital.
Reynolds said the women were excited to be able to help the community and get a chance to reconnect with the youth.
"The little girl in me still loves teddy bears," said Ruth Sturdivant, who works in the program.
Dawson said he believes the program has been very successful. For instance, he cited one paramedic's experience:
"The children are usually petrified when they have to ride in an ambulance," said Stewart. "The paramedic said he started an IV on the bear first and then the child let him do an IV on him."
Resident Ruby Johnson said she was glad to help because her son was a-firefighter for 30 years.
The women were nominated for the award by Christ Church Apartments-manager Donna Patterson.
"All they told us was to make sure we were dressed nice and had eaten-breakfast," said Johnson. "We thought we were going to watch our manager receive an award -- we were shocked when they called our names."
The women continue to make clothes for the teddy bears and have started-helping on a new project with the fire-department. In addition to the bear-program, the Family Care Fellowship has started a program in which all expectant firefighter families receive hand-knitted baby blankets.
"I love children," said Mary Whalen, who works in the program. "I think doing things like this gives meaning to my life."
Distributed by the Associated Press
