Alpha Phi Hug-A-Bear Project Provides 200 Bears to

Lubbock Heart Hospital for February’s Heart Awareness Month

LUBBOCK, Texas – The sisters of Alpha Phi Sorority at Texas Tech University are helping recent heart surgery patients wrap their arms around teddy bears during February’s Heart Awareness Month in Lubbock. 

In February, Alpha Phi will be replacing traditional firm cough pillows with more personable and inviting teddy bears. After heart surgery, patients are told to cough to clear fluid in the lungs and are required to hold firm pillows to keep their sternum from cracking open. The Hug-A-Bear operation hopes to replace 200 pillows with the teddy bears for the Lubbock Heart Hospital.

Alpha Phi member Blake Wagner started Hug-A-Bear in September after her grandmother, Lee Wagner, assisted with the original Hug-A-Bear project several years prior for Alpha Phi’s Omaha Alumni chapter. Blake sees this as an opportunity for Alpha Phi to both carry on the original mission and help heart patients in the Lubbock community.

The Lubbock Heart Hospital is one of the beneficiary hospitals for the Hug-A-Bear operation. The employees look forward to working with the Alpha Phi sisters, and know the amount of joy all patients will receive.

After delivering the bears to the hospital in February, Blake hopes that Alpha Phi sororities in Texas will adopt her philanthropy to help heart patients, thus gaining national recognition to help fund the Hug-A-Bear operation.

“By next October, I want to spread this idea to other Alpha Phi chapters around Texas, and then gain national attention from Alpha Phi chapters all over the country,” Blake said. “Through community engagement and local donations, Alpha Phi has set high expectations for the financial success of this program.”

Each bear will cost approximately $10 to produce, and Alpha Phi has already raised over $2,000 through donations from Lubbock residents. To find more information about Alpha Phi Hug-A-Bear, visit the Hug-A-Bear site on Facebook at www.facebook.com/pages/Alpha-Phi-Hug-A-Bear or contact Blake at stephanie.wagner@ttu.edu. Donations can be sent via mail to Alpha Phi Hug-A-Bear at 2300 Glenna Goodacre Blvd., #4101, Lubbock, TX, 79401.

About Lubbock Heart Hospital
Since opening its doors in December 2003, Lubbock Heart Hospital has been caring for hearts in West Texas. The 74-bed, acute care hospital is physician-owned, specializing in the prevention and treatment of cardiac disease. The hospital serves the regional area of West Texas and Eastern New Mexico, a population of about 1.2 million. For more information about Lubbock Heart Hospital, please visit www.LubbockHeart.com.

-LHH-