Mother Bear Project

    Mother Bear Project is officially one of my favorite organizations.  They collect handmade, either crocheted or knitted, teddy bears and send them to various countries in Africa where they are distributed to children  affected by HIV/AIDS. The organization also sends you a tag to write the name of your bear and sews a heart onto each bear before sending them off to their new owners. To get the pattern you can order it online with a $5 donation to Mother Bear Project and then make as many bears as you like!  With each bear you send to the organization in Minnesota, you send with it $3 to cover shipping costs to Africa.  One thing the site encourages is asking friends and family to sponsor the bears.  I already have numerous friends who have donated $3 and I am naming the bears after each of those that donate.  When the organization goes to deliver the bears, they take a picture of each and every bear with its new owner and posts them online.  You can then go online and check to see who has your bear!  There are also drop-off locations where one can bring the bears if they don’t want to physically box and ship them (the $3 is still required).  I dropped these off in Baltimore and hope to see them in Africa sometime soon!