Nan Forehand (holding teddy bear) with members of Iredell Memorial’s Emergency Room staff.

Sometimes It’s the Simple Things

When a child comes to the ER in pain or not feeling well, that child is distressed and frightened. Thanks to Nan Forehand, a very caring lady, each child is soon given a teddy bear to hold onto. With his or her arms around a bear, the child is less fearful of both the experience and of the staff member who brought the bear.

Nan’s Good Will Bears began with the simple purchase of a teddy bear at a Goodwill store, a ministry she likes to support. After her daughter Ashley left for college, Nan did what most mothers do. She kept her daughter’s room neat. One day, while shopping at the local Goodwill, she saw a teddy bear for a dollar and decided it would look nice on Ashley’s bed. Before long, the first bear had 11 more keeping him company. Buying bears for Ashley’s room was giving Nan something to occupy her mind while she got used to her daughter not being at home — and leading her on a path of creating a ministry of her own. 

A Ministry in the Making
“God prepares you when you don’t know you’re being prepared,” Nan said. “When that first bear came into my hands, I had no idea it would soon be 12 bears. Then God asked what I was going to do with them.” 

Nan learned that the Police Department keeps bears to give to children when they are investigating a domestic disturbance. While she liked the idea, it didn’t feel right for her because she didn’t have a connection.

She does, however, have quite a connection to Iredell. Her husband, Allen Forehand, worked at the hospital as orderly when he was in his teens.  Cindy Gibson in The Birth Place is Allen’s sister. Nan’s mother-in-law, Julia Forehand, is a volunteer at the Out-Patient Surgery Department. And her daughter, Ashley, is a CNA on 2 North. Nan has worked for 6 years in the office of Dr. Mario Zapata, whose wife Aurora Tudela serves as a member of the hospital’s board of directors. When the idea of providing bears to children in the ER began to take shape, Aurora set things in motion by obtaining permission for Nan to bring the bears.

Said Nan, “I didn’t set out to create a ministry, but there are a lot of caring people in Statesville” and many have helped along the way.
Nan fell in love with this area and the people in it when her then boyfriend Allen first brought her here. She knew in her heart they would settle here when he retired from the US Air Force, so much so they bought land for their future home early in their marriage. She and Allen have been married for 28 years and did indeed settle here when he retired from the Air Force 6 years ago. 

She has many examples of friends and strangers who want to help once they learn about her ministry.

RBCentura bank held a bake sale/fundraiser to help buy bears and raised $100 that Nan used to buy 138 bears. Her church, Trinity United Methodist, actively participates, as do the Crimson Toppers, her Red Hat group. A couple of months ago they were gathered at Special Treasures in Statesville and members were buying bears. Recently, the husband of the manager sold her every bear she wanted for the sidewalk sale price of 25 cents each when he learned what they were for. He wasn’t aware of the fact that his wife kept a box in her office that she filled with bears for Nan to pick up and Nan said she didn’t want to tell him because that would have taken away the joy he was feeling at selling her the bears for such a good price.

Nan fully believes “when God hands us something, He provides in abundance.” She has acquired 500 bears between April and December. “It’s phenomenal how many bears come into my hands.” 

Anytime Nan goes into a Goodwill store, she doesn’t worry because there are always bears on the shelves. And her husband, who she quickly says is the best thing that ever happened to her, patiently helps her find them.

As the word about Nan’s ministry spreads, she is blessed by more and more people who want to help. A shopping cart filed with teddy bears is a great conversation starter and people in line with her in a store checkout line often make donations right there to help pay for them. A Logan’s Roadhouse employee who learned about Nan collects bears for her. 

Though Nan only gives away bears, someone donated a stuffed rabbit. Rather than discard it, she transformed it into a bear, but its large feet made it obvious it was a “bear rabbit”. She took it with her to her hairdresser’s earlier this month and there was a gentleman getting a haircut there who had recently lost his mother after caring for her through an extended battle with cancer. Before he left, he gave her $50 for her ministry. Nan said she found out who he was and felt led to mail him a thank you card and the bear rabbit to provide some comfort as he faced his first Christmas without his mother.  She saw him just before he received the bear rabbit while she was shopping in a local thrift store.  He noticed her selecting several teddy bears for purchase and knew he’d done the right thing by giving her the $50.00.

Bears have been brought to her home and people who have read her poems on wordchimes.com have mailed bears from Maryland and Illinois. A copy of one of those poems entitled “Nan’s good will bears” is given to the parent of each child. “It’s a learning tool. When a parent gets the poem and the child gets the bear, the parent knows it’s also about teaching that child about goodwill.” 

Out of respect for limited space in the ER, Nan brings 24 bears to the hospital every 7-10 days and has provided 200 bears since the first delivery on July 22nd. The others remain at her home until needed.

She says she doesn’t have to be here to see the children’s faces when they receive a bear. “It isn’t about me. It’s about how God uses people to help people. It goes beyond words; that comfort is priceless. Knowing it gives me as much joy as it does the child.” Should children need surgery, their bear accompanies them and is the first thing they see when they wake up.

“This has really had a positive impact on our staff as well,” added Greta Jordan, RN, Emergency Department Director. They love being able to give the bears out and know it brings immediate comfort to them.

Bears don’t have to be new, but they have to be clean and look new. Nan began taking the bears to Sloan’s Cleaners and, once the owner, Jeff White, knew what they were for, he offered his services to clean them for free. On Impact Day, October 1st, a day set aside by the Methodist Church each year for members to volunteer in the community, Nan knew what she wanted to do. She went to Sloan’s to learn how to clean the bears herself. Over the course of 3 hours that day, she cleaned 64 bears. Now she feels confident cleaning the bears at home with solution from Sloan’s Cleaners. Each bear is hand washed and air dried.

When she receives old bears that can’t be given to a child, she keeps them. And some bears that are donated are too large to be given to children, but she does find ways to put those to good use. She recently had 4 large bears in her care and asked Greta about doing something with them when the ER staff had their Christmas party. Greta agreed and the bears were auctioned off for a total of $120.

Some of the bears Nan’s been given are valuable collector’s editions. She is considering putting those on Ebay to auction off so she can take that money and purchase additional bears.

Teddy Bears Aren’t Just for Children
The ER also gives bears to some elderly patients who suffer from Alzheimer’s Disease and dementia.

The first adult hospital patient Nan brought a bear was her half-brother Woody while he was a patient at Duke fighting the effects of congestive heart failure. Woody is one of four sons her father had before he met her mother. Her father left home before Nan was born and she never heard from him again. Sadly, he never told his sons that they had a sister. Nor did she know how to get in touch with them, the eldest of whom was 19 when she was born. Allen looked up her family tree online a few years ago and told her he had found her brothers. She learned one half of a set of twins had died and the surviving three – now in their 60’s and 70’s – were living in Boone, Wilmington and Brooklyn, NY. 

She first reached out to a niece whose email was listed online and the niece responded right away, sending her family photos. One of the photos was of one of her brothers with her father, providing her first opportunity to see what any of them looked like.

One day she called the brother in Boone and left a message telling him she didn’t want anything from him, she just wanted him to know about her. At the time, Woody’s wife was in Paris, and he was stunned when he heard the message. When his wife came home, they listened to the message together and she called Nan. Later, when Ashley was getting ready to go to Appalachian State University, and finding an apartment was becoming a challenge, Nan decided to see if her brother knew of other places they could look. When she called, he answered the phone, and told her he knew she was his sister by her voice. He sent the information and Nan contacted him again when her family was coming to Boone for Ashley’s orientation. She was delighted when he said he wanted to meet them. She learned they are wonderful men, all of whom served in the military. They are finally a family and Woody even walked her down the aisle at her daughter’s wedding.

In 2010, the four finally all got together in Wilmington to support one after the death of his wife. “It was the most incredible thing to be there with all my brothers for the first time.”

Now, she’s facing the day when her 19-year-old son, John will leave home to serve in the Air Force, but she’s sure the bears will again help keep her mind occupied. Both of her children are supportive and know their mom is doing something good for others. As she says, “They’ll never look at a teddy bear the same way again and I’m okay with that.”

Her brother-in-law asked how long she was going to keep providing them and Nan answered, “As long as God puts bears in my hands. We do the possible and let God do the impossible. I do it for the love of giving.”

She doesn’t have a clue how much money she’s spent purchasing teddy bears. “It’s not about the money. It’s the most rewarding thing I’ve ever done and I can’t imagine not doing it.”