Bringing comfort to those in need

Resident collects donations for children at hospital

A Castaic woman has collected 305 stuffed teddy bears to donate to children in the emergency room at Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital.

“It’s an act of love, and it was everybody pitching in,” Sandy Holguin said Friday.

While looking for a way to give back to the community, Holguin’s daughter gave her the idea to donate to the hospital’s emergency room.

“Whenever a child experiences a trauma, they have a program (at Henry Mayo) where they come and they give them teddy bears to help comfort them,” Holguin said.

“That really resonated with me because there was a time where my daughter needed services and they gave her a teddy bear. She’s now 27 years old, and she still has that teddy bear from that trauma, so I know that it means a lot to people.”

From posting on Facebook to knocking on people’s doors, Holguin has received donations of money and teddy bears all the way from Texas to England.

“It’s not just about giving the one teddy bear to a child,” Holguin said. “The parent will be happy to see that their child is comforted in a moment of distress.”

“So, it’s affecting the staff, the family, the child and it really is a gift that keeps giving.”

Holguin intends to collect and donate teddy bears to the hospital annually.

Eddy Martinez/The Signal (See additional photos at signalscv.com) Sandra Holguin organizes 305 stuffed animals that she plans on donating to Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital. Holguin recieved donations from all over the world in order to make this community service project possible.

Eddy Martinez/The Signal (See additional photos at signalscv.com) Part of the donation that Sandra Holguin collected sits in her living room. Holguin plans to donate the toys to children at Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital.