Our Beginnings and Mission

Chloe came into this world six weeks early with a condition known as non-immune hydrops. Her body was swollen and she needed a ventilator to breathe. At ten days old her parents were told she was extremely brain damaged and they should 'let her go'. But, Chloe had her own agenda. Chloe came home on her due date and was welcomed by family and friends. After a few doctor visits and hospital stays, Chloe had a feeding tube inserted into her stomach in order to be fed and gain weight. It was during this time, she was diagnosed with a malfunctioning liver.

The doctors told her parents to love her and enjoy her as much as they could because even they didn't know how long her life would be since she had already surprised them by making it to her first birthday. Shortly after her second birthday her parents received the news that Chloe was in liver failure and would probably live about six more months. They set about cramming a lifetime of firsts into a few short weeks. Chloe was a flower girl in her aunt's wedding going down the aisle in her own white dress, Make-A-Wish sent the family on a trip to Sesame Place and her hospice sent her on an airplane trip to the North Pole four days before she died. Chloe touched the lives of so many people in her short life. She will be remembered as the little girl with "smiling eyes" and a heart of gold who finally got her wings.

When Chloe passed away, her parents asked family and friends to bring a teddy bear to her funeral. They didn't want to bring a lot of flowers home. The response was overwhelming. In the back of the room, the stairs were filled with nearly 200 teddy bears. One week later Chloe's parents took all those teddy bears to Minneapolis Children's Hospital, The Make-A-Wish Foundation and the Minneapolis Children's Hospice and Karuna Program. Each child who was in the hospital received a teddy bear, right down to the tiniest of patients in the NICU. Children and parents alike were so appreciative of the gift of a teddy bear. Smiles abounded. A couple of months later, Chloe's dad thought it would be great if they could do this every year for the hospital that had given them so much. And thus, The Chloe T. Foundation was born. Word of mouth spread among friends and organizations and another 250 animals were delivered in December 2001. Handcrafted tags tied with bright colored ribbon tell each child where the animal comes from. “the power of a teddy” became the slogan for the foundation because each animal brought so many smiles, not only from the children, but from their parents as well.

As long as there is money to purchase new stuffed animals, tags will be added and children who are hospitalized will receive — ”the power of a teddy bear”.