Bears from Bergenfield

El Al USA PR will be doing a photo shoot and writing an update on Bears from Bergenfield  later this month. It is scheduled to take place at Newark El Al. We are also hoping that this will spur more people to donate toys to our cause. We are almost up to 60,00 stuffed toys collected in less than 5 years time.  We have many more centers and hospitals to supply with toys in Israel. We are in the process of trying to fill 70 day care centers with toys. We also supply toys to 5 Israeli abused family shelters, Machon Summit orphanage, located in Jerusalem, Amit and Emunah day care programs, and 15 hospitals aside from Meir Medical Center, located in Kfar Saba.

Come read our story in The Jewish Woman Next Door, edited by Debby Flancbaum and published by Urim Publishers of Jerusalem.Claire Ginsburg Goldstein, Bears from Bergenfield, Founder and Director

May this year bring you all one overflowing with joy, kindness, and
blessings…

Sammy, my 15 1/2 year old son, and I just returned from a teddy bear mission
to Israel. We brought 6 duffles of toys to Israel with us for distribution,
thanks to the generosity of Lubavitch on the Palisades of Tenafly.
Betty and Ed Wolfe and Chani Sacharen of Kfar Saba couldn’t be more helpful
in making sure that the toys are in the best condition before deciding which
organization is in immediate need of toys.
Debby Shkedi, head nurse at Meir Hospital in Kfar Saba, is SO BUSY, making
sure that every child gets a stuffed toy to brighten up their day.
Rabbi Maier Solomon of Jerusalem makes frequent stops here to keep refilling
the supply of toys, full and complete for his clothing machson and the
Jerusalem hospitals.
Our volunteers/newly arrived olim: the Gidon family of Hashmonayim, the
Gantshars of Ramah/ Beit Shemseh and the Eris of Ramah /Beit Shemesh are also
making sure that the distribution of toys continues on in a timely fashion.
Our other volunteers here, Susie Openden and Avi Hirsch are also hard at
work. They keep their eyes and ears open, looking for people to take the bags on
El Al, for free, as per the directive from the El Al president, Haim Romano.
And we are so grateful to Cong. Beth Israel/Kol Haneshamah/Cong. Beth Shalom
Hebrew school and Temple Israel Hebrew school that support this project
financially and spiritually.

We have surpassed 56,000 stuffed toys collected and are hoping to reach
60,000 stuffed toys collected by Dec. 2007.

Help us reach that goal! Talk it up in your children’s schools.
Please donate your children’s stuffed toys that they no longer play with.
Hesed birthday parties and bat mitzvah parties are a great way to have your
guests participate in this mitzvah by stuffing and dressing the toys. We send
them over to Israel in gift bags with a personalized note attached.

Recently,we have also been requested to begin to send over children’s socks
along with the stuffed toys. When the children leave surgery, their feet are
cold. There are good deals on socks and stuffed toys at Walgreens and Big
Discount Warehouse in Bergenfield.
L’shanah Tovah Tikatayvu
Claire Ginsburg Goldstein
Bears from Bergenfield
86 Deerfield St
551-804-8749