2024 Be A Friend Program Recap

It all began with a dream of going beyond providing just another toy to the bin. Due to our amazing partnerships, Be A Friend was developed to be a day centered around recognizing and empowering children and teens within organizations we are already working with on a regular basis. This program enables these children to create a friend to join them on all their life adventures AND make a friend to be a friend to a child or teen currently in the hospital. 

This dream was realized in 2023 with a pilot run of "Be A Friend Program" (formerly known as "Build a Friend, Make a Friend, Be A Friend"). For the pilot run, we collaborated with our friends at the Hall of Fame Village's Build-A-Bear that resulted in the participation of the Hall of Fame Village, Starbucks, Visit Canton, and the USFL. 36 children from Pathway Caring for Children were invited to participate by building a friend for all of their own life adventures and making a friend for a child currently at Akron Children's Hospital.

It is our belief that this event can impact a generation of children. Our dream is to show kids that they are seen, they matter, and, with a bit of time, they can help another.