Wade had been with Heyman HospiceCare for only a few months, after transferring from the Emergency Room at Floyd Medical Center. “When I first came here, I was challenged with finding ways to implement new things and new ideas, and to make the bereavement program become a part of me,” Wade said.

“I was in my kitchen one morning before coming to work, nervous because it was a new department, because I was used to the Emergency Room, and it just dawned on me that a good idea might be to share a bear for pediatric patients,” Wade said. “It would provide something for the patient to hold onto and to cuddle. It could also serve as a memorial item for the family. And I remember thinking to myself, ‘Oh no, that couldn’t work because you have to buy bears.’”

Several months passed, and the idea stayed with her. One day, Cheryl Davis, a member of the Loose Threads sewing group, came by Heyman HospiceCare to drop off some hand-sewn items. During the conversation, Wade shared how they could use bears and about her vision for sharing them. Davis said Loose Threads would supply all the bears that Heyman HospiceCare needed for free. Wade said Davis told her creating the bears is part of their ministry. 

Hospice gives the bears to pediatric patients or to children whose family members are receiving hospice care services. “Any way that we can bring a smile to a child or a family’s face is something that we desire to do,” Wade said.

The women in the Loose Threads sewing group also make blankets, hats and scarves for Heyman HospiceCare patients. They also make bags for a women’s shelter, adult bibs for local nursing homes and quilts for whoever they feel led to help. “We sent seven or eight quilts to Japan after the tsunami. We made bags and sent to Peru. We’ve made quilts just when we would hear of a need. But it wasn’t until we found out that Hospice needed something that we adopted somebody,” said Phyllis Shanahan, a member of Loose Threads.

“I have about nine or 10 bears cut out at the house to do. I try to make at least a dozen a month to give to them. Whatever Hospice needs, they just let us know, and we’ll try our best to do it,” said Davis.

Loose Threads was formed in 2011. It began when two women who didn’t know each other, Rachel Howard and Shanahan, gathered at the home of a mutual friend, Patricia Black. Not long after, a fourth member joined. “Then the others short of drifted in,” Shanahan said. The group now has 18 members. 

They gather together every Monday morning for several hours at Congregational Holiness Church in Cedartown. “Nobody in this group goes to this church,” Shanahan said. “Out of the goodness of their heart they let us meet here.” The ladies bring in their sewing machines, embroidery machines, materials, sewing notions and project ideas. They sew, crochet, cut patterns, rip out seams, redo work, eat lunch and socialize with each other. Shanahan says that if someone wants to join them and they don’t know how to sew “we’ll teach them.”

For more information about the services provided by Heyman HospiceCare, call 706.509.3200.