Meet Jeanette Maurer | Executive Director of Joe Joe Bear Foundation

We had the good fortune of connecting with Jeanette Maurer and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Jeanette, how do you think about risk?
When I decided to start Joe Joe Bear Foundation it was a very brief quick decision I made with a 20 second conversation with my daughter. This was 3 days after our Joe passed away and we were having a conversation in the kitchen. She said “mom why don’t you start a non profit and give children with cancer a teddy bear like joe? It will keep his memory alive”. My response to her was ok. I was a business owner how hard can it be to run a non profit! I dove into the deep end and treaded water until I figured it out. The first year I self funded the organization and we distributed 1,600 teddy bears to children in the greater Houston /Galveston areas. 13 years later we have provided comfort to children through a teddy bear to over 40,000 children.
A lot of blood sweat and tears went into Joe Joe Bear Foundation, but it is a thriving nonprofit that survived a pandemic and other natural disasters and came out the other side stronger! I am very proud of this organization and my wonderful board and volunteers that helps keep it going.

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
The Joe Joe Bear Foundation was created in memory of Joseph David Ordaz who passed away on March 10, 2009 from Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia, he was 24. Joe had a bone marrow transplant on July 17, 2008 that the doctors thought would be successful. However on December 3, 2008 he found out the cancer was back. Joe was undergoing treatment to prepare for a second transplant when he asked for a teddy bear to hold while he was alone so that he could feel like we were with him always. Joe was so full of life and had a smile that would light up a room whenever he entered. He was always in good spirits and always tried to make people smile, he is deeply missed.

The Joe Joe Bear Foundation, a children’s charity based in Katy Texas that serves children and families nationwide was created to keep Joe’s memory alive and to help others in the same situation. The Joe Joe Bear Foundation provides children with life threatening illnesses teddy Bears. It saddened Joe to hear the children crying at night in the hospital when they were alone and scared, he would say, “I wish I could help comfort the sick children.”

The Joe Joe Bear Foundation provides teddy bears and educational resources to hospitals and hospices nationwide. In the past 13 years over 40,000 bears have been given to critically ill children.

After extensive research and interviewing families that have lost children over 20 years ago to very recently, they all had the same needs and requests for information. The Joe Bear Foundation has identified a critical need in educating parents, family members, and even the children. There is a missing link in the parent support and available information. There was a need to add an education program with resource materials and online access. The Joe Joe Bear Foundation added educational materials and resources to the website giving caregiver access all the material online along with resources to external links for more information about the different diseases the children have.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Space Center Houston, The Aquarium, Museums, Galveston, Shopping at the Galleria, Houston Zoo, Houston city bus tour. Places to eat, well House of Pies is a must, Taste of Texas, Papasitos, Katz Deli . Then I also like to find local small mom and pop place to just hand out. Something off the beaten path.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I could not have done this without the support of my family. In the early days my family was all in. They helped tag bears. My 2 older children Jason and Maegan went to a concert put on by KSBJ to benefit Joe Joe Bear Foundation and got on state and talked about the organization while I was at another even event receiving an award for charity of the year. My loving husband does anything I ask, including putting on the very hot mascot costume at our golf tournament every year and special events we may get invited to. He never complains about it either.

Website: www.joejoebear.org

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeanettemaurer/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/joejoebear09

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JoeJoeBearFoundation

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCeMtyuWT8wZKnb7bxo9h39A