We did it! Thanks to the continued generosity of hundreds of alumni, friends, faculty, staff, and students of Fairfield University, the Student Alumni Association and the Office of Alumni Relations are thrilled to announce that the 19th Annual Teddy Bears with Love drive collected over 12,000 teddy bears and stuffed animals bringing our 19-year all-time collection total to nearly 20,500!
All of our donated teddy bears and stuffed animals were distributed to children in hospitals and through charities across Connecticut and the United States. We'd like to extend a huge thank you to all who have and continue to participate in this great event!
This year, children at the following organizations across the country benefited from your donations:
Connecticut Children's Medical Center (Hartford, CT)
Yale New Haven Children's Hospital (New Haven, CT)
St. Vincent's Hospital (Bridgeport, CT)
Bridgeport Hospital (Bridgeport, CT)
Franciscan Children's (Brighton, MA)
Hour Children Inc. (New York, NY)
Catholic Charities of Chicago (Chicago, IL)
Overlook Hospital (Newark, NJ)
UCSF Children's Hospital (San Francisco, CA)
Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (Philadelphia, PA)
Georgetown Hospital and NIH (Washington, DC)
Beth Israel Newark Medical Center (Newark, NJ)
A very special thank you to:
Fairfield University's students, staff, faculty, and administration, especially:
Karen Donoghue ‘03 & the Dean of Student's Office
Fairfield University Department of Public Safety
The Office of Conference & Event Management
Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts
Sodexo
Fairfield University Mail Room
All of our Alumni chairs who hosted regional drives and distributions in their Regional Chapter Areas:
Boston – Carolyn Cuteri '09
Chicago – Michael Carroll '01
Hartford – Bob Fiondella '89, P'20
Manhattan – Mariano Portocarerro '15
New Jersey – Siena Epps '13
Philadelphia – Steven Donovan '86
San Francisco - Charlie Knights '12
Washington, DC – Katelyn Estrich ’07
Alumni and Friends of Fairfield who organized collection events at their homes, business, schools, and more!:
Michelle Caston & Enterprise Rent-A-Car of Wilton, CT
Debbie Fedorko and Holly Hill Day Care of Orange, CT
Lisa Testani '85 and Sikorsky Aircraft of Stratford, CT
Nancy (Baber) Kelley '85 and All Saints Catholic Academy of Bayonne, NJ
Lynn Raimondo '03 and Watchung Hills Regional High School of Warren, NJ
And of course, our additional 2017 Contributors which included hundreds of Fairfield University students, alumni, faculty, staff, and friends. Thank you to everyone who participated! Thanks to your generosity, more and more children will continue to receive a big "bear hug" over the holidays.