A Pella Middle School student aimed to make a difference for children with extended stays at the University of Iowa Children’s Hospital.

Eighth grader Callista Webb received $50 from her church and needed to use the money to do something good in the world.

“I didn’t really know what I wanted to do with it for awhile, so I started to think about it, and then about six months ago I got the idea of making Build-a-Bears for the University of Iowa Hospital,” she says.

For assistance with the project, Webb met with 7th grade science and Project Lead the Way teacher Susan Lyons at Pella Middle School, and Webb asked if she could sell monster cookies to raise money to buy teddy bears with heartbeats for children going through difficult procedures. Webb took the $50 and bought the ingredients to make the cookies and then sold over 200 cookies.

Webb says when she was younger, she had to visit the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics to have regular check ups, tests and a few major surgeries, and Child Life gave her a teddy bear with a beating heart.

“When I was about seven, I was hospitalized and I was given a Build-a-Bear with a beating heart, and during some of the procedures I was told to listen to the beating heart to distract me from some of the procedures.”

Callista had enough money to buy 21 bears with beating hearts. This spring, she delivered the bears to the University of Iowa Hospital and Clinics Child Life department.

“It was super fun to walk in with two, huge grocery bags with 21 bears, and see the Dean of Child Life specialists reaction from an eighth grader walking in with 21 bears,” she says.

Webb plans to some day attend the University of Iowa and become a Child Life Specialist herself. Hear more on today’s Let’s Talk Pella.