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Zoe Norton, 7, holds a bear during the blessing Rev. Jim Reed says a blessing for the bears that the Sunday school children at the Church of the Messiah made. |
BY KAFIA HOSH
Every year, Church of the Messiah Sunday school students perform their annual Christmas pageant.
But this year's presentation involved a lesson in giving back to the community.
The class donated 20 teddy bears to the families of Mary Washington Home Health and Hospice. They created the toys at the Build-A-Bear Workshop in Spotsylvania Towne Centre last weekend.
Each bear will go to the relative of a dying family member. A recorded message from the family member will be slipped into each bear's paw.
Rector James Reed blessed the fuzzy toys during yesterday's service at the Episcopal church in Spotsylvania.
The bears can help alleviate the grieving process, especially for younger children, noted Gloria Lloyd, a bereavement coordinator for Mary Washington Home Health and Hospice.
"When a parent or grandparent is dying, one of the concerns they have is the children's comfort," she said. "Even after you die, your voice will go on, it's a real gift."
Lloyd slipped a recorded message into the the tummy of a teddy bear she gave to her father before he passed away in the mid 1990s.
"I told him I loved him, and he played it over and over again," she said.
During the holidays, when most kids are accustomed to receiving gifts, the bear project taught Messiah students the importance of giving.
"For a child to know that they are loving it for a moment and let go is a real gift of caring for someone beyond themselves," Lloyd said.
At the bear-building workshops, kids sometimes get attached to their toys.
But the students "knew why they were making the bears," said Vanessa Wallace, the Children's Ministry coordinator. "All the kids took it on as just making Christmas presents."
Bob Weber's son and daughter presented their bears during the church service.
"What's important is the love and the heart that went into it," he said after the presentation.
Wallace said the church hopes to continue to work with Hospice.
"It might even be our Easter project too," she said. "We'll do little bunnies."
Kafia Hosh: 540/735-1977
