Sarami’s Teddy Bear Comfort is a not-for-profit organization created to provide stuffed animals for firefighting, ambulance and other first responder personnel to give to children involved in emergency situations.
This program began in 1990 in memory of a young girl who loved little children, and who understood that for sick or injured children emergency medical treat-ment is often as frightening as the incident that caused the injury.
Sarami (pronounced Sara-me) Cheaqui, the daughter of Brenda and Bill Cheaqui, knew what it was like to be a frightened child enduring medical procedures meant to help. She spent many days of her life in hospitals and clinics due to congenital heart defects, and sympathized with the other children there.
Over the years, Sarami’s friends and family gave her many stuffed animals so that she would always have something soft to hold onto when she needed some extra couragement and comfort. Shortly before she died at age 16, she donated her stuffed animals to a hospital emergency room to be given to hurting and frightened children.
Her family and friends believed a fitting memorial for Sarami would be to provide “Teddy Bear Comfort” to children receiving emergency medical treatment from the Kansas City metropolitan area fire departments. ambulance services and first responder services. Since it’s beginning, several thousand stuffed animals have been provided to these special children through the efforts of Sarami’s Teddy Bear Comfort.
