{"id":144222,"date":"2023-12-08T09:04:17","date_gmt":"2023-12-08T14:04:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/?p=144222"},"modified":"2024-07-29T12:50:54","modified_gmt":"2024-07-29T16:50:54","slug":"building-community","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/2023\/12\/08\/building-community\/","title":{"rendered":"Building community"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

Jena Pado, left, chief development officer at Dayton Children\u2019s Hospital, and Callista Hess, founder and coordinator of Bears4Children\u2019s and a social media coordinator at Wright State. (Photo by Knack Video + Photo)<\/p><\/div>\n

What began as a monkey stuffed animal given to her 3-year-old twin brother by middle schoolers when he was in the hospital has developed into a 16-year-long passion project.<\/p>\n

The joy provided by that stuffed monkey led Callista Hess, a social media coordinator and 2023 marketing graduate<\/a> at Wright State University, and her family to create an organization that helps make and deliver several thousand personalized teddy bears to sick children.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m very honored that people have noticed this work,\u201d said Hess, who is also a graduate student in Wright State’s Master of Arts in Physical Education: Sports Management Program<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Hess was recognized for her efforts with the Outstanding Youth in Philanthropy Award from the Association of Fundraising Professionals of Greater Dayton. Hess was honored during a National Philanthropy Day luncheon on Nov. 13. The Wright State University Foundation was a major sponsor of the event.<\/p>\n

Now in its 16th year, Bears4Children\u2019s<\/a> has put more than 3,700 Build-a-Bear stuffed animals in the arms of patients at Dayton Children\u2019s Hospital.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is a lot of work at times, but it is definitely all worth it. It\u2019s very rewarding,\u201d said Hess. \u201cMy favorite part is afterwards seeing parents post pictures of their kids in the hospital with the bears because it really does make a difference even though it\u2019s just a very small act of kindness.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bears4Children\u2019s teams up with Build-A-Bear Workshop. Many of the bears are purchased by sponsors and built by volunteers at the local Build-A-Bear store. The bears are then packed up and delivered to the hospital.<\/p>\n

Up until Dec. 23, people can go to Build-a-Bear at The Mall at Fairfield Commons anytime during store hours and purchase and stuff their bear(s) and leave them there for Hess to pick up.<\/p>\n

The idea for Bears4Children\u2019s was planted following a stay in the hospital by Hess\u2019 brother, Tayton, during which time he was given a stuffed animal. A few years later, Hess, her mother and brothers got some cousins together and built 12 bears. And then it just kept growing.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen patients receive these Build-a-Bears, it\u2019s not just something someone ordered on Amazon and bought in bulk and sent to the hospital,\u201d said Hess. \u201cThis is what other people are taking their time to stuff and put some love into to give it to a complete stranger that\u2019s just got the extra stress of being in the hospital over the holidays.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hess said being a part of the community is crucial, and it\u2019s important to look out for each other. \u201cWe are meant to be a community, and we\u2019re meant to be together,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Callista said Bears4Children\u2019s is a great opportunity for younger children to make an impact on the community.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey spend all this time picking out a bear, stuffing it, dressing it, just to leave it here to be given to a stranger. That\u2019s really difficult for some kids sometimes,\u201d she said. \u201cFor many kids, this is their first time learning how to give back, and I think it\u2019s an awesome step.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Wright State staff member Calista Hess received the Outstanding Youth in Philanthropy Award from the Association of Fundraising Professionals of Greater Dayton. Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":51,"featured_media":144242,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[722,733,724,748,2025,2060,2017,744,725,4898,715,2024,4908,2061],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-144222","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-academics","category-alumni","category-awards","category-business","category-community-service","category-graduate","category-nursing-health","category-education-human-services","category-home-news-sidebar","category-kinesiology-health-sciences","category-news","category-staff","category-supply-chain-management-marketing-and-management","category-undergraduate"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/144222","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/51"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=144222"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/144222\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":144331,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/144222\/revisions\/144331"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/144242"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=144222"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=144222"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=144222"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}