Being kind and not mean would change the world a lot. – Campbell Remess, 12
Twelve year-old Campbell Remess would prefer spending all his time making teddy bears for sick children than doing just about anything else. When he was nine, he asked his mother if they could buy Christmas toys for children in the hospital but with nine kids in the family, there wasn’t much left over so he decided to make his own. He taught himself to sew and began researching patterns and gathering fabrics. It took him five hours to make his first bear and then he just got quicker and better — he can now make one in about an hour. He’s been making stuffed bears for three years now and has given them out hundreds t0 sick children in hospitals, as well as sending them overseas to people dealing with grief.
Campbell’s mother Sonya says it’s more than just about giving teddy bears. “It’s really that he looks at sadness and tries to turn it upside down,” she says.
Perhaps the teddy bear that Campbell has made with the most love, is the one he gave to his father, Nathan, who was diagnosed with cancer five years ago. When the cancer returned, Campbell made a special bear for his dad. Fighting back tears, Nathan says the cancer hasn’t come back, and who knows, maybe it’s because of the bear. “There’s a little bit of magic in them,” says Nathan, “But there’s a lot of magic in Campbell.”
And today we celebrate...