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Community Corner

Bear Donations Bring Comfort to Kids

A Lawrenceville, Ga. teenager turns tragedy into an opportunity to serve.

Teddy Bears are often a comfort item and best friend for a young child. Gabrielle Moore, 18, has dozens of the stuffed animals in her family's Lawrenceville home waiting for a new best friend. The Spelman College freshman is the founder of Bears for Babies, a program that gives teddy bears to children who have lost a parent.

The passion Moore has for kids came out of personal tragedy. Her father committed suicide when she was 5 years old. Moore received a bow-tie wearing bear from her mother for her birthday. She named it after her dad.

"My mom gave it to me to say that he was with me," Moore said. "That's when I started cherishing it and having a deep connection to it."

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That connection stayed with her and years later inspired what began as a high school project. At age 16, while a junior at Atlanta Girls' School, Moore decided that Bears for Babies would be her senior year project. She combed the newspapers and looked online to find children who had lost a parent. She wrote letters, asking to give them a teddy bear, but people weren't responding.

"At first, a lot of people weren’t receptive to it because they really didn’t know what it was and found it kind of sketchy," said Moore. "After I started getting a little bit more credibility, people starting taking to it better."

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Word of mouth spread, and Moore changed focus to include children of fallen military personnel and first responders. Moore delivers each bear in person and meets with the child one-on-one to share her story and give encouragement.

"When I was little I felt that no one really understood what I was going through," Moore said. "By giving these children a bear, it lets them know that someone went through a similar experience."

In the two years since Moore started Bears for Babies, she has given away about two hundred personalized bears. Moore runs the program during her breaks from Spelman, where she is pursuing degrees in psychology neuroscience and Spanish.

The project has led to numerous awards for Moore. This year she was named one of Atlanta INTown's 20 under 20, which honors students who have gone above and beyond to give back to the community.

Moore hopes to see Bears for Babies expand so she can reach more children.
"Seeing the smiles and sense of encouragement they have, it really makes me feel better," Moore said. "I received a lot of help growing up. Giving back reminds me of who helped me along the way and taught me to be a better person."

Contact Moore at bears4babies@gmail.com to find out how you can help.

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