Student Honored for Love and Hugs Program for Zusman Hospice

In her own words, Emily Cammeyer shares how she came up with the Love and Hugs program:

The inspiration for this program came from a bear that my brother and I made for our great-grandmother for her 90th birthday. We made it a Yankees bear because that was her favorite team. She lived alone, but that bear always kept her company. When she became ill and eventually moved from the hospital to hospice, the bear came with her. It brought her comfort during an incredibly scary and lonely time. After she passed, the bear was returned to our family, and it comforted us as we grieved. I keep it in my room today, and it continues to remind me of her.

When it came time to choose my bat mitzvah project a year after her passing, I knew I wanted to gift that same feeling of comfort to other patients and families at Zusman Hospice. My original goal was simple: donate 100 bears and call it a day. But that changed almost immediately. One of the first recipients was the grandmother of a close family friend, and their family was so moved by the bear that they insisted the program had to continue because it mattered and would impact so many others.

It’s incredible to think that we’ve now provided more than 4,500 bears when the original goal was just 100. I feel genuinely proud to offer the same kind of comfort that meant so much to my own family during such difficult moments to people in my community who need it most.