Bear Hugs for Venezuela

“Bear Hugs for Venezuela” for the Hospital de Niños J.M. de los Ríos is a humanitarian program benefiting the children of Venezuela. The program aims to address the following aspects of the beneficiary’s health:

- Emotional: to bring a smile to the face of a child with ‘the healing power of a teddy bear,’ help improve their psychological condition and lessen the psychological trauma caused by the current humanitarian crisis in Venezuela. The value of giving teddy bears to traumatized children stretch beyond simply providing them with something to hold; teddy bears meet the psychological needs in children experiencing sickness, loss, pain or shock.

For the last 17 years, Cristal Montañéz Baylor, in partnership with Good Bears of the World and other international organizations, has utilized teddy bears to help alleviate the trauma caused by humanitarian crises, natural disasters and emergency relief efforts in Pakistan, Jamaica, Seville, Houston and Venezuela; including refugees from Burma, Bhutan, and Congo. 

Physical: to provide the needed pediatric medical supplements: acetaminophen, probiotics, electrolytes, delicious and nutritious snacks, and rice-soy fortified meal packs with vitamins, minerals, and micronutrients. These meal packs are expected to provide emergency relief to some of the malnutrition cases in the Hospital de Niños J.M. de los Ríos. Each meal pack contains 250 calories.

Beneficiaries

Direct Beneficiaries: 100 children hospitalized at the Hospital de Niños J.M. de los Ríos. Indirect Beneficiaries: 600 family members of the hospitalized children.

Objectives

The overall goal of “Bear Hugs for Venezuela” program for the Hospital de Niños J.M. de los Ríos is to acquire, pack and ship the following items, pediatric supplements and meals to Venezuela:

  •   100 Teddy bears

  •   100 Coloring books

  •   100 Boxes of crayons

  •   100 Blankets

  •   1,200 Units high calorie/ nutritious snacks (12 per child)

  •   100 Toothbrushes

  •   100 Boxes of toothpaste

  •   192 Bottles pediatric acetaminophen

  •   192 Bottles pediatric electrolytes

  •   40 Buckets pediatric probiotics

  •   4,700 Meal packs of rice-soy fortified meal packs with vitamins (actually a total of 28.200 servings)

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      The “Bear Hugs for Venezuela” program has three main objectives:

      Objective 1.- To improve the psychological health to 100 hospitalized children by distributing 100 care packages containing the following items:

      •   1 Teddy bear

      •   1 Blanket

      •   1 Coloring book

      •   1 Box of crayons

      •   6 Units high calorie/ nutritious snacks

      •   1 Toothbrush

      •   1 Box of toothpaste

        Objective 2.- To improve the physical health of 100 children by distributing, administering, and managing the medical supplements, and treat the children hospitalized in the Hospital de Niños J.M. de los Ríos.

    “Bear Hugs for Venezuela” A humanitarian program benefiting the children of Venezuela

    Objective 3.- To improve the nutrition condition of 100 hospitalized children (direct beneficiaries) and the 600 family members (indirect beneficiaries) by:

    •   Increasing the protein, carbohydrate, and caloric intake of the hospitalized children by adding the rice-soy fortified meal packs to their regular diet.

    •   Increasing the protein, carbohydrate, and caloric intake of the family members by providing boxes of rice-soy fortified meal packs for the family to prepare at home.

      THE BENEFITS

      The care packages and the medical supplements are a charity donation of the participating organizations in an effort to provide relief to the children of Venezuela. Bear Hugs for Venezuela and the Rotary e-Club of Houston is the network by which these donations will be entrusted the Hospital de Niños J.M. de los Ríos. Members of the Rotary Caracas will coordinate with the Hospital personnel their participation to distribute the care packages to the children.

      PARTNERS
      The program ‘Bear Hugs for Venezuela” for the Hospital de Niños J.M. de los Ríos is possible for

      the collaboration of the following organizations:

    •   Rotary e-Club of Houston, District 5890

    •   Rotary Caracas

    •   Good Bears of the World

    •   Hashoo Foundation

    •   Houston-Karachi Sister City Association

    •   Rise Against Hunger

    •   Individual donors

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