Suffering from inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) from a young age can be daunting. Project Buttony Bear donates stuffed animals to kids with a stoma to help them feel better.
Project Buttony Bear is the creation of The Breakaway Foundation, The Mighty reports. This is a UK-based charity for children with bladder and bowel disorders.
The project started from an idea from a friend. Years ago she gifted a bear to a child who had a gastrostomy button in her tummy,” Jenny Gow, the project’s founder told The Mighty. “The friend sewed a button onto a bear and gave it to the child so that she had a friend like her.”
Buttony Bear has started
As a result, Gow and her friend Lynn Park launched The Buttony Project last year. “In all honesty we were not prepared for the rush of requests, but we rose to the challenge,” Gow said. To date, the project has created 681 bears and it is growing.
“Buttony has helped Peyton a lot,” one parent wrote to Gow. “Before she used to just say, ‘Mummy had a bad tummy’ but now she is understanding what I have and what it’s called. She comes in the bathroom and changes Buttony’s bag when I change mine.”
Families and kids can request a Buttony Bear through the Project’s Facebook page. Each bear can be purchased or donated to a child in need for 20 British pounds which is about $26.
