Town of Battleford Mom Jessica Michnik with her son Carl, 4, and Dr. Kiranjot Bhangoo, a resident at Battlefords Union Hospital, at the Teddy Bear Clinic Friday. (Angela Brown/battlefordsNOW Staff)

By Angela Brown

BECIP annual event

Teddy Bear Clinic brings community together

May 26, 2023 | 2:22 PM

The annual Teddy Bear Clinic is back in North Battleford today.

The event is being held at Central Park behind the North Battleford Library from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Battlefords Early Childhood Intervention Program (ECIP) executive director Colleen Sabraw, who organized the event, said it was exciting to be able to hold the event again after a long pause during the COVID period.

“We haven’t been able to have it in over three years,” she said. “About 30-plus agencies are here in the park with lots of things for children to do, around the theme: ‘We are Growing.’ That includes public health nurses here doing immunizations, fire, ambulance, police, Crime Stoppers, ECIP, and resident doctors. We have agencies [represented] here all over the park. Everybody is having fun, and kids are enjoying it. It is so important for our community to once again connect, and be together. It’s also an exciting time for families to come back out.”

During the event, kids will each receive a passport. They then will get a stamp from each of the agency booths they stop at during their visit.

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The event is aimed at children under the age of five. However, some of their brothers and sisters are coming and enjoying the activity as well.

Sabraw hopes children taking part simply have a relaxing day exploring the different activities, while their parents learn about the various resources in the community.

“We hope we bring information to parents and families about what agencies are here, what is here to support them, and what [activities/programs] they might like to get involved in,” she said.

Over 200 people attended the event in the first hour of the Teddy Bear Clinic Friday, so Sabraw anticipated a strong turnout for the day.

“We have pre-K [pre-kindergarten kids], daycares, agency participants, and families from around the area here,” she said.

Kids attending received a healthy snack, a blanket, and of course a teddy bear to take home afterwards as well.

North Battleford Mom Breanne Hansen, with her son Theo Odgers, 4, front, and WPD Ambulance’s Dane Cleenwerck, operations manager, back right, with primary care paramedic Cassidy Leclair, back left, at the Teddy Bear Clinic Friday. (Angela Brown/battlefordsNOW Staff)

During one of the health stations at the Teddy Bear Clinic, Dr. Kiranjot Bhangoo, a resident at Battlefords Union Hospital, showed parents and kids how important it is to get regular checkups to stay healthy.

Youngster Carl Michnik presented his toy bear to get its health assessed.

“We took a listen to its heart, which was beating fine and well,” Bhangoo said. “We took a look inside his ears and mouth to make sure [the bear] didn’t have any creepy crawlers or bugs in there. So, he had a clean bill of health.”

Bhangoo said the Teddy Bear Clinic is a good outing to connect families with heathcare and other services available in the community.

“It’s [an opportunity] for them to come out, get familiar with their community and with healthcare early on, so that when it comes their time to spend time with doctors, they are feeling comfortable and safe,” he said. “And the kids [at the event] have done a really great job. It’s been a pretty good success so far.”

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Angela.Brown@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @battlefordsnow