Courtesy Photo The Student Nurses Association at Alpena Community College will be hosting a Teddy Bear Picnic from noon to 3 p.m. Saturday at Bay View Park in Alpena. Above, ACC nursing students pose with teddy bears to promote the upcoming Teddy Bear Picnic.

The Student Nurses Association at Alpena Community College will be hosting a Teddy Bear Picnic at Bay View Park in Alpena from noon to 3 p.m. on Saturday. This event gives children an opportunity to learn how to take care of their teddy bear while also learning about basic medical care and general safety.

Children are invited to bring their stuffed animal and pick a medical diagnosis for their toy. Topics include wound care, how to splint an arm or leg, chicken pox, stitches, fever, and more. Student nurses will then help them go through the process of treatment and how to care for their stuffed animal. If children don’t have a teddy bear or stuffed animal to bring with them there will be a limited number available at the event.

“The Teddy Bear Picnic is a new and exciting way to interact with the community,” said SNA President Kennedy Chmura. “While most of our fundraisers and events are directed towards adults, this event is for the whole family and will be fun for everyone.”

Chmura first became interested in the nursing profession after attending a teddy bear picnic with her great-grandma and her sisters when she was four years old.

“That event opened up the door to the medical field for us and now, 17 years later, we are all nurses,” Chmura said.

She is the youngest in her family, with older sisters Alex and Paige being previous graduates of the ACC nursing program. While their family lives in North Pole, Ark., all three sisters chose to attend ACC for the nursing program after Alex came to Alpena to play softball.

Staff from both the Alpena City Police and the Alpena Fire Department will be available to explain the importance of safety. There will be an information table on ACC’s Healthy Futures Start Here Capital Outlay Project, which will provide updated classroom and lab space for the ACC Nursing Department. Other attractions include food and beverages, family fun games, face painting, a raffle, and more. This event is by donation, and the ultimate goal is to give back to the community. “I hope that families have a fun day and learn something new to help improve their understanding on basic medical care and safety,” Chmura said. “The Student Nurses Association is excited to get to know the community and families that surround us. We strongly believe in community and caring for the well-being of everyone.”

ACC’s Nursing programs are accredited by the Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing. For more information about this accreditation, visit www.acenursing.org.