State of the Heart Hospice Camp BEARable Youth To Get Bears Made by the Sassy Sewers

Pictured are members of the First United Methodist Church Sassy Sewers with their bears.

Thanks to the efforts of the Sassy Sewers of the First United Methodist Church in Greenville, the young people attending State of the Heart Hospice’s fourteenth annual Camp BEARable for grieving children will get teddy bears made by the group. The camp will be July 11-13 at the Spiritual Center at Maria Stein.

“This project was very touching and special for the ladies in our group,” explained Judy Kugel, chairman of the Mission Committee for the church. “As they worked to create the bears, they thought of the children and their grief. We prayed over the bears realizing they would help heal the wounds of the children.”

This is the fifth year that the Sassy Sewers, which is made up mostly of Darke County residents, has done a project for charity. They put together 31 bears, beginning at the end of March and completing the bears the first of May. Each year, the children attending camp get their own bear to take home with them from camp. The bears are a constant reminder of their time at camp and will remind them of things they learned at camp about grief and loss and dealing with their own grief.

The camp is free and is open to any child, age six to 15, and there need be no association with hospice care. In the past, most of those attending have no association with hospice. Last year, 64 kids attended camp and of those only 11 had any connection with hospice care. Grief support for both adults and children is an important part of the services provided by the nonprofit agency.

Each child is paired with a specially trained “buddy” who spends time with the camper over the weekend. The camp is a mixture of fun and games mixed with serious dialogue about grief and loss. For many of the young people, it is the first time they have felt comfortable talking about their grief and feelings of loss.

State of the Heart has cared for patients and families in eastern Indiana and western Ohio who are confronting a life limiting illness for 33 years. The agency has offices in Greenville, Coldwater and Portland. A camp application is available on line at the agency’s web site: www.stateoftheheartcare.org.

Go to the Bereavement tab to access the application. Also, volunteers are always needed. For more information about camp or to learn more about volunteering, call any of the agency offices and ask to speak to one of the bereavement staff members.