I am Sylvia Stark Founder of The Teddy Bears of Hope Campaign. 
 
The Teddy Bears of Hope, is a campaign of Love and Hope from Children of Canada to Children in other parts of the world. Children who are lonely, underprivileged and caught in a web of poverty and despair due to no fault of their own. Every child deserves to smile and dream, with no regards given to their race, color, religion or circumstance.

 In 2004 the disastrous tsunami hit parts of Asia. Leaving many people without homes and many children without Parents and complete families .Millions of dollars were being collected around the world for disaster relief. But in these countries children know no value to a dollar. I wanted to fill that emotional void that was not being filled “ Thus the Teddy Bears of Hope was born”. We collected over 20,000 teddy bears from Canadian Children. In the summer of 2005, Miss Teen Canada Int’l Amanda Klyn and I personally delivered those teddy bears to children living in children’s villages and orphanages. With the Assistance of the Government of Thailand and Habitat for Humanity Organization this was, a very rewarding and over whelming experience for both of us!

Because of the success of this program, since that time we have delivered teddy bears to children in Cambodia, Guatemala, Sri Lanka and the Philippines. We now have many countries waiting for us to bring the program to them.

 In 2008 we have chosen Afghanistan Children to deliver Teddy Bears to.

Our Canadian Forces are there because they want to help & make a positive difference in those people’s lives; they are bridge builders, peace keepers and so much more. We are now working with The Canadian Forces and The Ambassador of Afghanistan to make this campaign possible.

We have collected over 50,000 teddy bears from Canadian Children to deliver to the forgotten children of Afghanistan in Christmas 2008. Afghanistan is a country which has been at war for over 25 years, where violence has become common place. But there are families with children there just like yours and mine.

 If you would like to bring a smile to a child’s face and make a difference to a child on the other side of the world, please become involved with our campaign. We need you!

  We can make a difference One Teddy Bear at A Time!

2009 Teddy Bears of Hope Campaign has just announced the Bears will be going to Uganda