In December of 2011 17 year old Maria Mandel created the Teddy Bear Project.

 

Maria Mandel posted about wanting to do a little something for the residents in the nursing home for the holiday season. Lots of people in the nursing homes are often forgotten about so she thought this would be a good way to tell them that we care about them. Maria posted on Facebook telling people what she wanted to do and seeing if anyone would want to help her out on her mission. Lots of people stepped up and helped. Maria had collected 100 stuffed animals and brought them to the nursing home and hospital.

 

To date Maria and her Father, Richard Mandel, have collected close to 10,000 stuffed animals, 1,000 blankets and 800 toys for the kids in the hospital and residents in the nursing homes.

 

Maria and her father also brought their dog, Stacey Mae, who has since passed to the nursing homes to visit people. Lots of people enjoyed visits from Stacey. Now they bring their new dog, Kasey Mae. 

 

In 2011 Stacey Mae was named Therapy Dog of the year.