Project Teddy Bear

During the Spring 2017 semester, students in Dr. Shlafer’s University of Minnesota (UMN) honor’s class, Incarceration and the Family, partnered with Dr. Diana Poch and people incarcerated at the Federal Correctional Institution (FCI) in Sandstone, MN to start Project Teddy Bear, a restorative justice project at FCI-Sandstone. Throughout the semester, students collected yarn to send to incarcerated men. The men – many of whom were learning to crochet for the first time – used the yarn to crochet stuffed animals which were then donated to children at the Ronald McDonald House. Each animal and character is individually designed and crocheted.

Relevant Articles:

Minnesota Daily, "UMN Project Delivers Crocheted Toys to Sick Kids" (October 2017)

Star Tribune, "Minnesota Inmates Crochet Way to Redemption in Project Teddy Bear" (September 2017)