Theodore Roosevelt Association Donates Teddy Bears to Children’s Hospital in Alabama
September 3, 2026
The Theodore Roosevelt Association (TRA) donated 36 teddy bears in July to children receiving treatment at University of South Alabama Health Children’s & Women’s Hospital in Mobile, Alabama, through the TRA’s Teddy Bears for Kids Program.
Since 1986, the program has delivered more than 90,000 teddy bears to children in hospitals across the United States, providing comfort and companionship to young patients during difficult and often frightening experiences.
More than a century later, the TRA continues to use that unique historical connection to bring comfort to children through its Teddy Bears for Kids Program.
At USA Health Children’s & Women’s Hospital, the 36 bears quickly found their way into the arms of young patients.
“We see a lot of kids in our Emergency Department, so they went quickly!” said Kate Johnson, BS, CLS, Child Life Specialist with the Mapp Child and Family Life Program.
“The patients have loved them. They have brought comfort to many kiddos whether they are used as comfort during a tough procedure or just as a treat for a young patient that had to come through our doors.”
Johnson recalled one young patient who was able to hold onto a TRA teddy bear while having an IV placed.
“I had a child recently who was able to clutch a teddy bear during his IV start and it provided him with so much comfort,” Johnson said. “It made a world of a difference with how he was able to cope.”
The Mobile delivery is part of the TRA’s continuing effort to expand the Teddy Bears for Kids Program and bring a small measure of comfort to children and families in communities throughout the country.
The teddy bear itself has a special connection to President Theodore Roosevelt. In 1902, while on a hunting trip in Mississippi, Roosevelt famously refused to shoot a bear that had been captured and tied to a tree, believing it would be unsportsmanlike. The incident inspired a widely circulated political cartoon by Clifford Berryman. Soon afterward, Brooklyn shopkeepers Morris and Rose Michtom created a stuffed bear and, with Theodore Roosevelt’s permission, called it “Teddy’s Bear.” The toy quickly became a national sensation and forever linked Roosevelt’s name with the teddy bear.
For nearly four decades, the program has transformed one of the most recognizable connections to Theodore Roosevelt into an enduring tradition of service—using the teddy bear that bears his name to provide comfort when children need it most.
To learn more about the Theodore Roosevelt Association Teddy Bears for Kids Program, visit www.theodoreroosevelt.org/teddybears.