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Fish Restaurant donates 500 teddy bears by Mary Helen Yarborough Public Relations Five hundred small teddy bears donated by Fish Restaurant will be used to help health care providers in the Children’s Hospital make children’s visits a little brighter. The teddy bear donation project stems from what began as a promotion for the restaurant during construction along King Street that disrupted customer traffic, said Randall Goldman, managing partner of Patrick Properties LLC, which owns the restaurant.   The Children’s Hospital gained 500 small pink teddy bears, thanks to Fish Restaurant and Patrick Properties. Gathering in the Atrium for the bear donation are (top from left) Randall Goldman, of Patrick Properties, MUSC’s Meredith Sanders, John Sanders; (bottom from left) Elizabeth Kitchin of Patrick Properties, Sonja Muckenfuss, R.N., and Sandra Oberman, manager of Child Life. “I actually got the idea when my wife and I went to Paris,” Goldman said. “There was a lot of construction around the hotel, so when we were leaving, we were given a teddy bear and a note that said, ‘Thank you for bearing with us.”   In July, Fish Restaurant, 442 King St., started a promotion in which each customer was given a bear, and if the customer returned with the bear, they would receive half price on a bottle of wine. That grew into an opportunity to help the Children’s Hospital when Goldman, who had purchased 3,000 bears, decided to keep aside 500 uncirculated bears for the hospital.   Teddy bears, long used in law enforcement to calm traumatized children, are also useful in the health care community when a child faces a frightening medical procedure.   “What a difference it makes by handing this out to a child when they arrive here,” said John Sanders, Children’s Hospital administrator. “Being in a hospital is a very difficult event for a child. While we work hard to provide an environment that is bright and cheerful, it is still a hospital. Fish has gone the extra mile to make a child’s visit to the hospital more tolerable, and the 500 teddy bears that are being donated is an incredible gift that will go a long way in bringing smiles to our patients’ faces.”   Sonja Muckenfuss, R.N., Children’s Hospital director of children's services, said that such small gestures play a big part in establishing a level of comfort between the children and the hospital staff.   “It’s amazing how such a small thing means so much to these children,” Muckenfuss said. “It also means so much to the family.”   Sandra Oberman, manager of Child Life for the hospital, said the bears will be distributed to all of the children and used as gifts on special occasions.   Fish Restaurant is co-owned by MUSC neonatologist Celeste Patrick, M.D., who helped target the teddy bear project to the Children's Hospital.  Goldman said the relationship between the hospital and restaurant will likely continue.     Friday, Sept. 29, 2006 Catalyst Online is published weekly, updated as needed and improved from time to time by the MUSC Office of Public Relations for the faculty, employees and students of the Medical University of South Carolina. Catalyst Online editor, Kim Draughn, can be reached at 792-4107 or by email, catalyst@musc.edu. Editorial copy can be submitted to Catalyst Online and to The Catalyst in print by fax, 792-6723, or by email to catalyst@musc.edu. To place an ad in The Catalyst hardcopy, call Island Publications at 849-1778, ext. 201.