It was an afternoon of celebration and reflection at the Estevan Regional Nursing Home, as the community recognized the work of resident Gladys Pukas.
For the past six years, the now 87-year-old has been diligently putting her fingers to the task of knitting teddy bears one after the other, and she has kept herself busy. On Jan. 23 her peers at the nursing home celebrated the completion of her 1,000th bear. Along with the milestone creation were bears 1,001 and 1,002.
For those keeping track, that means she has hand-knitted 1,000 bears in the last roughly 2,200 days or almost one bear every two days for six solid years. In that time, she has been able to tap into some energetic youthfulness driving her forward through each bear.
After she completes each one, they are collected, and when enough inventory has been built up, the bears are donated to the Operation Christmas Child project, which sends shoeboxes of goods to orphanages and children all over the world.
The 1,000th bear bears the colours green and yellow as a tip to her and her family's farming roots and the agriculture equipment company John Deere.
Pukas began knitting the bears as part of a project called Teddies for Tragedies, an international organization that began in the 1980s as nurses in Sudan knitted teddy bears for children with tuberculosis. Her first bears went to that organization, but have since been shipped out with the shoeboxes.
Pukas was surrounded by family during the celebration recognizing the milestone and among them was her daughter Virginia Wheeler, who has helped her mother get the work done.
"When I started off I was doing baby clothes for the hospital," Pukas said about her previous knitting projects. "My son Andrew came from church one Sunday and said 'Why don't you make some teddy bears for orphanages overseas?' So I've been doing them, and Virginia helps me with the material."
The teddy bears have been shipped to such countries as the Philippines, Peru and Nepal among many others. Some of the employees at the nursing home who are from other countries have taken them to their home countries to give to children as well.
Wheeler said her mother's story shows how one person can do something that impacts many lives around the world.
"(It) affects so many of these children who have nothing," she said. "It's wonderful that she is able to share her time and her talents."
"Every time I make (a bear), I make a child happy," added Pukas. "It helps me, too. I'm going to keep going as long as I live, if I can."
