Our Beginnings

Project Open Arms was formed to help children deal with the anxiety and sadness that is experienced during times of treatment and separation. The project was named in honor of Jean Armes (pronounced arms), a loving mother, grandmother and great grandmother who, after viewing the talking teddy bear on the Oprah show, chose to leave a very special legacy of her own. After aggressively battling cancer for 3 years, she passed away very shortly after recording personalized messages to her loved ones. Her family has initiated this organization in her memory because they know both how difficult the treatment process is as well as how much love and courage these teddy bears have to give.