Airportfest hosts Teddy Bear Drive

Members attending this year’s free Airportfest at AOPA Aviation Summit in Fort Worth, Texas, are being asked to participate in the Teddy Bear Drive, which will benefit Cook Children’s Medical Center. The drive, an ongoing effort of the medical center, is a way for AOPA and its members to leave a positive impression on the Fort Worth community.

Cook Children’s Medical Center is a not-for-profit, nationally recognized pediatric healthcare organization based in Fort Worth, and its transport team’s hangar is based at Airportfest's host, Fort Worth Meacham International Airport. The fleet, including a King Air B200, an American Eurocopter and four ambulances, is responsible for transporting children and babies in need of neonatal and pediatric critical care to Cook Children’s Medical Center.

The center’s team of highly specialized nurses, respiratory therapists, and paramedics begin giving care immediately upon the patient's arrival. Once a child arrives at Cook Children’s Medical Center, they are treated by board-certified physicians and a highly recognized nursing staff. This organization takes AOPA's passion for flying and advances in medical technology to save children’s lives. What better organization to partner with?  

Summit attendees are being asked to bring a teddy bear to Airportfest as an in-kind donation to the drive. The bears will be given to help children on difficult days, like when they are whisked off to surgery, as a way to comfort them when they miss home or have trouble sleeping. The team transports on average 2,200 children annually, and the goal is to collect 100 bears during Summit.