It’s official! Our numbers for children served this holiday season are in! BEAR friends, we are SO excited to share with you that this holiday season, we served 23,044 children during our BEARing Gifts program, and this was all made possible because of Y-O-U! Thanks to individual donors, volunteers, and community partners, we were able to provide holiday cheer to thousands of children! Whether you donated 100 toys or 1 toy, it all truly makes a difference! You made a child smile during the holiday season, and for that, we cannot thank you enough!
Did you know that for the last 25 years, BEAR has been an important advocate for the most vulnerable population in the greater Houston area…its children! Help us start the new year right by keeping our BEAR Rooms stocked year-round, no matter the time of day, year, or season with the basic necessities needed to meet the immediate needs of children.
Each month, our BEAR Rooms provide approximately 3,000 at-risk and CPS-involved children with essential items. Items include NEW clothing, shoes, diapers, car seats, air mattresses, and much more. Click below to see all the ways you can get involved this year!
Our Heart Gallery has made its way to First Colony Mall!
If you are in the area, please be sure to stop by to see this beautiful exhibit and learn more about these incredible children who are waiting in foster care to find their forever families through adoption.
After our incredible volunteer photographers capture the heart of these amazing children, the portraits they help create are then displayed at various locations throughout the city! We invite you to join us at current and future exhibits, and to share this information with others!
See the exhibit at First Colony Mall near the entrance to the food court by Dick’s Sporting Goods. Thank you, First Colony Mall, for creating adoption awareness with this community exhibit.
In an effort to begin 2023 on a powerful note, we invite YOU to join us in our Year End Giving Campaign! The Year-End Giving Campaign is a digital fundraiser aimed at achieving one goal: to raise $25,000 solely for BEAR’s Annual Fund campaign. BEAR’s Annual Fund was created many years ago to cover any emergency needs the organization may have, as well as to help fill any program-specific financial gaps that may arise in the coming year. This fund has proved to be vital to BEAR’s success and its ability to continue to operate its core programs.
One of the most impactful ways that BEAR serves children is through Heart Gallery Houston. Heart Gallery Houston is a traveling photographic exhibit and community education and awareness initiative created to help find forever homes for children in foster care awaiting adoption. With the help of professional photographers who volunteer their time, these heartfelt canvas photos bring life to the faces of children that long to find a forever family and a life of stability and love. Since its launch in September of 2021, Heart Gallery Houston has photographed over 190 children, and 27 children featured in Heart Gallery Houston have been matched with their forever family.
To continue to offer impactful programs like Heart Galley Houston which thousands of children rely on each year, we need your dedicated support. A generous gift from you will help ensure the sustainability of these programs and maintain the highest level of quality in resources to serve as many children as possible in 2023.
Donation levels range from $50 to $2,500, but you are welcome to participate at any level with which you are comfortable.
If you are planning to give to BEAR’s Year End Giving Campaign (Annual Fund) by check, kindly contact BEAR Staff at beardevelopmentevents@gmail.com, to ensure your donation is tracked in live-time in the $25,000 fundraising goal.
Our Stetsons & Stilettos fundraiser took place on Sunday, October 23, 2022 at The Rustic. Our annual evening event honored one of Heart Gallery Houston’s most esteemed photographers, Barbara Perlick, and we celebrated BEAR’s 25th Birthday! Click here to see pictures of this fun-filled night!
SAVE THE DATE! Our next evening event will be held October 2023!
