Caring bears
Nonprofit provides day of play to youth awaiting kidneys
Laura Kowalczyk knows the comfort a stuffed animal can bring to a child enduring dialysis.
This is why her organization, Kids Needing Kidneys, recently welcomed children and their families to Build-A-Bear Day. Over the past nine years, the event has provided hundreds of youngsters fromlocal children’s hospitals the opportunity to customize a teddy bear. Almost 70 participated in the gathering at the Build-A-Bear Workshop at the Pembroke Lakes Mall.
“It’s all about these kids having a fun day and taking the bears to dialysis for added support,” Kowalczyk, a kidney recipient herself, said. “But I also want to raise awareness about the importance of organ donation and how one person can save up to eight lives. Please don’t take your organs to heaven because heaven knows we need them here.”
Whether itwas a My Little Pony or Star Wars character or a traditional bear, the kids enjoyed being a part of the creation process. Along with the usual accompaniments of a Build-A-Bear, Kowalczyk handmade an assortment of fun kidney designs out of fabric for the children to put inside their bears.
Kowalczyk and her sister, Linda Allen, delivered more than 70 other donations to those who couldn’t make the event in person. The Kids Needing Kidneys efforts have grown to reaching units within Holtz Children’s Hospital, Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital and Nicklaus Children’s Hospital.
Daniel Peters, 17, said last year he decided on a “Frozen”-themed bear, but this year he decided on Chewbacca from “Star Wars.” The teen was born with dysplastic kidneys and went through dialysis until he received a transplant in November.
“This gives us a chance to take our minds off things,” he said. “I like how this draws awareness to the importance of organ donation.”
His mother, Bonnie, beams with a smile knowing howmuch he enjoys the experience.
“It’s a greatway to bond with everyone because they have gone similar situations aswe have,” she said. “It’s a fabulous day for him.”
A-jalyon Peeples, 10, has been attending these events since the beginning. The youngster spent the first few years of his life in a hospital after suffering from pneumonia associated with Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome. He had a transplant at age five. Ebony Pleasure is grateful there haven’t been any serious complications since then. Nowshe said she believes it’s important to help get the word out about the cause.”
“People need to know about this,” Pleasure said. “I didn’t even know things like this happened until it happened to him. That’s why everyone should be organ donors to help somebody else. These events were so good for him and others to shows hewas not by himself and he wasn’t going through it alone. It’s something he looked forward to every year.”
Members of the Florida Organ Transplant Association were also on hand passing along information. Kowalczyk’s passion for Kids Needing Kidneys is rooted in inspiration froma 6-year-old named Dyman Hicks, whowas on dialysis. After her first kidney transplant was rejected, she wanted to brighten her day with a trip to Build-A-Bear. She sawthe impact it had and wanted to lift the spirits of more children. Kowalczyk’s endeavor has been made a reality thanks to contributions from family, doctors and others believing in her efforts.
For information about the group, visit KidsNeedingKidneys.com.