****ATTENTION: IMPORTANT UPDATE****
Thanks to the incredible support and generosity of our sponsors, Patches has found his way
into many, many childrens arms all across the country in just a few short months!
Due to this overwhelming (but very grateful) growth we have been unable to update the website
for some time. We plan to be making some major revisions and updates to the site within the next couple weeks in
order to help keep everyone informed of all the great things Patches and his Supporters are doing!
Thanks again to everyone that has helped to bring Patches to where he is today, and another thank you to everyone
that has been patient in waiting for us to update the site !

     
 

 

 
 
Patches is on Special Assignment:
Patches and his Emotion Helpers are needed to help our military's children find their voices during this difficult time.
**Click here to visit Hands & Paws Across America**
 
 
 
   
 
Our Mission Statement:
 
 

"Living Light Kids and Patches the Bear are dedicated to advocating for children, guiding them to find their voice. With the help of Patches and the eight expressive emotion face symbols, children can learn to name, understand and appropriately express the emotions he/she is feeling. All children including those in healthy or poor health, neglected - both emotionally and physically, sexually abused, traumatized by catastrophic events or bereavement, disabled and or learning disabled children, and those having to cope with deployment need to communicate and express their feelings. During childhood, children begin to develop communication skills, and it is imperative that the adults in a child's life encourage healthy communication. This enables children to learn, form relationships, build their sense of worth, develop coping skills and express their feelings, all of which empower them to endure challenges, through life's journey of happy times and painful moments."

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


 

 

 

 


 

Important Information You Should Know:

Pennsylvania Megan's Law

Coming Soon: Sexual Abuse & Prevention Awareness INFO Page




 




 

Coming Back to CNN Headline News:
PATCHES!!

Kathylee Forrester Speaks Out for
Our Military's Children!!

 

Patches Ambassadors:
Featuring: Lesley Lane

Click here to find out more about
PATCHES Ambassadors!!

 

A Patches Testimonial:
CHOP - Child Life Specialist Love Patches

  "I have to tell you, too that I presented Patches at our last staff meeting on the 14th and he's been flying out of here ever
since. The child life specialists in this department LOVE HIM and are so excited to use him with kids!! They keep coming up to me saying "I have the perfect kid to use Patches with!" and then they proceed to tell me stories like... "I'm going to use him with two kids who were just burn victims" or "I'm going to give him to a sibling whose brother is going to die" or "I'm going to use him with a girl who just relapsed from cancer and won't talk to anyone."

More on that last story...one of the child life specialists who works in the outpatient Oncology clinic told me she took Patches to a 10 y.o. who just relapsed from her cancer and is not responding to treatment.
Because of that, she has pretty much shut down and doesn't interact with staff or even her mom very much anymore. So, the specialist brought her Patches and together they decided that instead of having to verbally tell staff or other people how she was feeling each day, she would
choose a feeling, put it in the pocket and present him to people when they asked questions about how she was doing that day.

And it's so funny b/c now the specialists keep asking me, "what happens when we run out of Patches? How are we going to get more?" So, definitely keep us in mind as you identify donors who may want to give money for bears for CHOP. He is going to be such a huge help around here. Oh yeah...and I've kept two boxes aside for the SCAN team (Suspected Child Abuse and Neglect but I'm sure you knew that already) and they're really excited about him, too.
Talk to you soon.
Stacy"

Stacy Redelheim, MS, CCLS
Special Events Coordinator
Child Life, Education and Creative Arts Therapy Department
The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia


 

 

 
Patches Has Come to Life!
 
 


On October 8th, 2006 Patches the Bear made his successful Debut, and has since been the spirited talk of many organizations and individuals wanting to help bring Patches to communities and children everywhere!

To see the video from Patches Debut Event, please Select your connection speed from the list below:
Video Courtesy of Lou Angeli
(Windows Media Player Required)

We Appologize for the inconvenience, but the "Patches Debut Video" is in the process of moving to a new hosting site so more people can view it faster. Please check back soon for updates!

To view pictures from the event, please Click Here.
All Photos courtesy of Renate Siekmann, Photo Journalist.


 
 

If you would like to help support Living Light Kids & Patches the Bear, donations can be made online by following the link below. For a Donation of $25, we will send you or anyone you like their very own Patches the Bear! Any and all donations are greatly appreciated!. If you would like to become a corporate sponsor, or would like to sponsor 6 or more bears, please contact us directly @ 215-345-4126. Thank you.
Gifts for donations made now will be shipped within 2 business days of your donation!


We Accept the following for Online Donations:

 

 

 

We need to recognize that our soldier’s children are also feeling the repercussions of this war. We need to support these military families and the sacrifice they are making for our freedom. There are over 700,000 children under the age of five dealing with a parent being deployed and absent from their family for up to a year at a time. This has not happened since WWII. As civilians, it can be very easy to take for granted the day to day interaction we have with our families. For the service family, they may only have a few weeks together before Mommy or Daddy leaves again for an extended period of time.

When a soldier is deployed his/her whole family is affected. Patches has enlisted and can help these children find their voice and talk about their feelings. Patches can even make it easier for Mom or Dad, Grandma or Grandpa, to start the difficult conversation by using the little emotion helpers, the faces of a child’s emotions.

We are mobilizing a nationwide campaign to support these children and the need for their little voices to be heard and understood, also. We need everyone’s help to make this happen and to be thankful for the courage and sacrifice these families and soldiers are making for us.

It does not matter what you believe about the war, this is about the children and the families and all they are going through on a daily basis. The reality is that we are at war and these children especially, are the future of our America! These families need us and we need to know how these children are feeling so we can help them survive and become emotionally healthy adults. Remember, they are our future.

We need volunteers in every state and we will be sending out emails, information packages, raising funds and bringing Patches home to these children who need his help to communicate how they are feeling. Please sign up by email (go to contact us) to volunteer in a small or large way, but please, help us help our soldier’s children.

Thank you so much,
Kathylee Forrester & Patches the Bear

 

Thank you to our Sponsors!
Please Click Here to See All the Organizations & Individuals Helping Sponsor Patches the Bear!





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