Teddy Bear Den Brings Top Honors to Business Students

Published: August 17, 2012 | Read Time: 2 minutes

It’s no secret service is one of the SUU student’s strong suits. But, making that indelibly clear once again are students from SUU’s School of Business who have received national recognition for their excellence in community service.

The national honor society for professional business leaders, Phi Beta Lambda (PBL), held its national leadership conference in San Antonio, Texas, this summer, and eight members of SUU’s PBL chapter competed against 1,700 of their future colleagues from across the nation to showcase their talents as future business leaders.

The SUU students competed in ten events and received national rankings in three. Consistent with their upbringing as outstanding servants, SUU placed first in the event’s Community Service Project competition for the highly successful Teddy Bear Den they organized earlier this year.

In partnership with the Utah Chapter of the March of Dimes, PBL students worked to establish a Teddy Bear Den in Cedar City to provide assistance to low-income pregnant women. The community-based program offers prenatal health care services to help expectant mothers stay healthy during pregnancy and also provides much-needed baby supplies to help mothers prepare for their new little ones.

Since opening in March, the Teddy Bear Den has enrolled over 21 clients and now has the support of five local medical clinics whose physicians donate their services to help clients stay current with prenatal checkups and postnatal well-baby visits.

Carl Templin, dean of the School of Business and advisor to Phi Beta Lambda, could not be more proud of his students. “I have truly been amazed at the PBL students this past year and the work they have done in establishing a Teddy Bear Den for Cedar City,” he said. “They used their business skills to organize fundraising events, work with local medical clinics to sign up clients, recruit volunteers and then run the Den each Wednesday.” 

The Teddy Bear Den is located on campus in the SUU Community Engagement Center and is open every Wednesday from 1 to 6 p.m. Operations are overseen by the Phi Beta Lambda club who work with local organizations to arrange community baby showers to stock the Den.

As the Den operates entirely on contributions from the public, donations are always welcome and may be accepted during operating hours or at scheduled shower events. Needed items include diapers and wipes, bottles, various hygiene items, clothes, hats and blankets. Monetary donations of any size are also gladly accepted. 

“Their hard work has really paid off” said Dean Templin, “not only in providing a worthy service to Iron County but also in having theirs picked as the best student service project in the nation.”

In addition to that honor, the first place award carried with it a $500 cash prize which, to their great credit, the students donated to the Teddy Bear Den for the purchase of baby supplies. 

For more information on the Teddy Bear Den or to make a donation, please contact Randi Sorensen at 435-790-1851.

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