| Bears for BooBoos, Inc. is an organization established by Miriah Chapman in memory of her best friend, Connor Fenton. In late 2002, the girls collected teddy bears with the hopes of collecting enough to donate to children that were hospitalized over that Christmas holiday. It was the girls' desire that these bears would bring some kind of comfort to these children. Close to 300 teddy bears were collected during this initial teddy bear drive and both girls delivered these stuffed, cuddly animals to Saint Louis Childrens Hospital in December 2002.
Eight months later, on August 3, 2003, Connor Fenton was killed in a tragic incident of domestic violence and her best friend, Miriah Chapman, decided to continue this small teddy bear drive in memory of her friend. Miriah named the organization Bears For BooBoos and began a diligent service effort for eight years, working countless hours. Since August, 2003, Miriah has collected and distributed close to 30,000 teddy bears that have been distributed all over the world to children in distress and urgent circumstances. Thousands of teddy bears have been sent to hurricane victims in New Orleans, Earthquake victims in Haiti and individual children, all over the world, dealing with traumatic situations or illness. It has been Miriah's hope all along, that by giving away teddy bears and stuffed animals in memory of her best friend, a legacy of love and comfort is being spread to children of trauma.
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