A Bear Hug Across the Globe: Spreading the Cure of Comfort Worldwide

By Caroline Roth, BBH Youth Advisory Board

In June, I had the amazing opportunity to help spread Billy Bear Hug’s cure of comfort around the world. Henry VanderZyden, Co-VP of the Youth Advisory Board, accompanied me on a trip to Ecuador, and we experienced first-hand the effect and joy our bears bring to children and their families. Our group of twenty-four students visited Cecelia Rivadeniera’s Escuela Granja for children with life-threatening illnesses, where we delivered thirty Billy Bears. It was incredible to visit and see how social comfort can help a medical condition. This trip proved that a small action can make a big impact. I was inspired by the excitement of the children when we gave them the bears. Each child hugged and held on to their bears for the entirety of our visit. The joy we were able to bring the children is something I will never forget. I am so thankful for the support that the Billy Bear Hug Foundation provided me during this trip allowing me to deliver bears to children halfway around the world. I am sure the children we visited will never forget the joy that BBH brought to them. The school thanked us for “giving back to [their] children the smile that the disease [had] taken from them”, which gets to the heart of what Billy Bear tries to do both here at home, and now abroad!