Lehi boy offers holiday cheer by making stuffed bears for sick children as gesture honoring his late mother
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- Gavin Reeve works at a sewing machine while making stuffed Grinch-themed teddy bears for sick children Friday, Nov. 22, 2024.
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- Stuffed teddy bears featuring Grinch-themed fabric sit on a couch inside the home of Gavin Reeve. They’re just a few of the dozens of bears he’s made to be distributed to sick children.
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- Gavin Reeve poses with his father, Kendall, dressed in a Grinch suit, inside of their Lehi home Friday, Nov. 22, 2024.
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- This undated photo shows Gavin Reeve, center, with his father and late mother, Ambrosia Mullins.
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- CaLeanna Schaller, Gavin Reeve’s step-mother, works at a sewing table Friday, Nov. 22, 2024.
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- This photo shows the size of Grinch-themed teddy bears, left, being made by Gavin Reeve next to an example of a larger bear he plans to make in the future.
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- Gavin Reeve works at a sewing machine while making stuffed Grinch-themed teddy bears for sick children Friday, Nov. 22, 2024.
While many children are putting their Christmas wishes together for presents they hope are under the tree on the festive holiday, Gavin Reeve has other plans in mind.
The 12-year-old has been busy inside of his Lehi home making Grinch-themed stuffed teddy bears to be distributed to children battling illnesses.
Gavin and his family have teamed up with the Angel’s Hands Foundation, a Utah-based nonprofit that supports children with rare diseases, to brighten the holidays for dozens of kids.
When he’s not at school or doing homework, Gavin sits at a sewing table in the family’s living room surrounded by piles of fabric.
“So we’ve done a total of 80 bears,” he said.
When asked why he chose the grumpy, furry character for the theme of bears intended to bring joy, Gavin said, “because the Grinch really symbolizes people in my family,” pointing to his dad and grandpa as examples.
The bears will be delivered to the Angel’s Hands Foundation on Dec. 7 by Gavin and his father dressed in a Grinch suit.
While many are familiar with the popular fictional character’s disgust for the holiday or anything cheerful, Gavin and his family will be using their newfound tradition to have the Grinch deck the halls instead of steal Christmas.
Gavin said he hadn’t really considered learning how to sew. But in an effort to accomplish this goal, his step-mother CaLeanna Schaller taught him how to navigate the machine.
The idea was sparked by a previous project Schaller did a few years back, according to Gavin.
“And we really wanted to help people this year for Christmas,” he told the Daily Herald. “So she brought this up, and that gave us the idea to start making bears for kids.”
Gavin was particularly drawn to the idea to help make a difference for sick children in honor of his late mother, Ambrosia Mullins, who passed away in 2021 after her lungs collapsed, among other medical issues.
He remembers his mother as being a kind and generous person with a love for animals, who could easily make friends wherever she went.
“So I figure I can honor her and make her happy by doing this, since she’s not here to do it,” Gavin said.
He watched his mother battle illness for a number of years, so Gavin relates to other families grappling with similar challenges.
“He understands the families go through a big struggle,” said Schaller, who is dealing with sickness herself. “So he deals with it on a continuous basis, and he knows how tight money can be.”
Gavin, his step-mom and dad have been working on the project over the past three months.
“He can do about one (bear) a day, and I can get about four done,” Schaller said.
But the family hopes to possibly make a dozen more bears to hand out to other children.
Additionally, he wants to make this a yearly project, with the goal of making 100 bears that are bigger in size.
However, their fabric is running low. So instead of Christmas presents this year, Gavin is asking for donations through a GoFundMe fundraising campaign to help purchase more materials and supplies.
“So it’s a lot of trying to have the stuff for him to be able to just keep going,” Schaller explained.
