MEMORY A to hold

Hospice volunteers sew bears for the bereaved

By Sara Greene

LITTLE ROCK — When a hospice patient dies, the Arkansas Department of Health Hospice provides a year of bereavement care to the patient's family. One part of that care is the Memory Bear, which volunteers make using an article of clothing from the hospice patient.

Scotty Manning, 50, of Russellville, received one of the teddy bears a few months ago.

"It's something to hold on to. It's like giving him a hug, and I think everyone who gets one feels about the same way," Manning said.

It is made from shirts her father, Edward Kizer, used to wear. Kizer was a hospice patient and died of heart disease Sept. 6, 2004. Whenthe Memory Bear program started a little more than a year ago, the family still had some of his shirts, which were used to make the bears.

"My mother and sisters received theirs first. Then my sister Dana Cherry was killed in the Atkins tornado. There was so much going on I just put getting the bear out of my mind," Manning said.

Marian Henderson, who serves as the volunteer coordinator for the Arkansas Department of Health Hospice Northwest Region in Russellville, didn't forget about the bear.

Manning said, "The first bears they made for my sisters and mother were big, so they made mine out of scraps, but one of the scraps is from a shirt Dana bought Daddy," she said.

In that way, the bear Manning calls Papa Bear is a memorial to both her father and her sister.

Henderson said the bears can be made from almost any cloth.

"We have had bears made out of uniforms, bears made from quilts, bears made from favorite shirts or pajamas," Henderson said. "One of my favorite stories is a set of bears made for twins from the tie-dyed shirts of their mother who was killed in an auto accident." She got the idea for the program during a Hospice Foundation of America conference. The program depends on a group of about six volunteers called Memory Makers who make the bears. The first bear sewn by the Memory Makers was for Henderson, whose father was also a hospice patient.

"It was made out of a shirt Igave him, and it watches over my shoulder in my office every day," Henderson said.

She said to date between 75 and 100 Memory Bears have been sewn.

Memory Bears have become so popular they are being made for the public for a $40 memorial donation to the Arkansas Department of Health Hospice.

"These bears give comfort to the families left behind," Henderson said. "They are a tangible reminder of the loved one who was connected to the fabric used. The favorite part of my job is to give a bear to a family member and witness their reaction. It is an intimate moment of remembering their loved one.

The thanks and deep appreciation have been overwhelming.

"Hospice is just one of the best programs there is: Compassionate people who alleviate worries during the end of life."

Volunteers may sit with patients, help build wheelchair ramps or work in the hospice office.

"For us the patient is the entire family," Henderson said. "We have nurses, aides, social workers and volunteers for whatever their needs are and help with end-of-life preparations for both the family and the patients."

The Arkansas Department of Health Hospice was established in 1992, and the Northwest Region includes Pope, Yell, Johnson, Logan, Scott, Conway, Perry and Faulkner counties.

For more information on hospice or to volunteer to sew for the Memory Bear program, stop by the Arkansas Department of Health Hospice office at 404 N. El Paso Ave. in Russellville, call (479) 968-4177 or e-mail Henderson at marian.

henderson@arkansas.gov.

River Valley Ozark, Pages 69, 73 on 10/16/2008