Volunteers Needed - Can you sew from a simple pattern?

TrinityCare Hospice would like to offer dying patients or their surviving family members a comforting bear made from the hospice patient's own clothing, pillows or other material they may find comforting.

While the patient themselves are on hospice service, the Burden Bear can calm restlessness, be a source of non-medical pain relief, and offer a sense of peace as they face the end of their life. For our surviving family members, the Memory Bear is a way to keep the essence of their loved one close by, assisting them through their grief.

Volunteers will complete the Bears in their own homes upon arranging to obtain the material and deliver completed projects to one of our centrally located hospice offices(Cerritos, Torrance or Van Nuys).

For more information contact Ida Vernay, Volunteer Coordinator, via email or visit the TrinityCare Hospice website.

These bears were made for two teenage daughters who were losing their father to cancer. The blue bear was made from a dress shirt he wore to work (he was a lawyer) and the black one was made from a sweatjacket he frequently wore on the weekends. The gentleman was able to select the clothing pieces himself and give the bears to his daughters a few days before he died. He passed away on Christmas morning 2007.