Tue 18 Apr 2006
Warm Buddy will produce a special Bear with a portion of the proceeds going to Bear Matters for Bear Rehabilitators in B.C.
Plush heat packs make a difference in lives of sick kids
Compared to the average teddy, a Warm Buddy animal has a lot to bear on its adorably plush shoulders.
Ever since the North Vancouver-based company called Warm Buddy started to donate the oh-so-cute heat packs, many of them shaped as stuffed animals, the dolls have taken on healing and soothing duties for sick and disabled children.
“They’re extremely comforting,” said Warm Buddy president and North Vancouver resident Karen McKee. “I hear a lot of nice stories (about how) they’ve warmed kids up.”
Although Warm Buddy has been involved with a variety of hospitals and charity groups, of note is their 1«-year involvement with the Vancouver-based Planned Lifetime Advocacy Network, to which it donates Warm Buddy animals. While the main goal of the network is to help family members plan for the future of their disabled child past outcomes like a parent’s death, the Warm Buddy program is an outreach program to bring awareness of the program and its services to young families with disabled children. Families receive a special package with a book about planning for the future for the parents, a Warm Buddy animal for the child and a one-year associate membership in the network.
Warm Buddy will also be helping their live animal counterparts with a partnership with the new bear-conservation outfit, Bear Matters B.C., headed by its director, Barbara Murray. Currently, a special Warm Buddy bear is being designed for the group and once on sale, a percentage will go to bear rehabilitation programs in British Columbia.
But all this philanthropic work didn’t happen overnight. It took years to build the company to its current successful self that is able to give back to the community.
Warm Buddy started out in 1995, when McKee, a former nurse, noticed a gap in the market when she started buying heat packs to give as gifts.
All the ones on the market at the time seemed to be lacking in some regard.
“It seemed like nobody was making them quite right. They were not holding heat or didn’t smell very good,” said McKee.
So McKee went about developing her own heat packs, and she encased them in fluffy trim. The Warm Buddy plush heat packs were born.
Warm Buddy started out as a heat wrap company targeting medical uses. In fact, Warm Buddy products have been approved as medical devices by Health Canada. Warm Buddy’s heat wraps are supposed to increase blood flow to sore muscles and its long-lasting heat properties are said to penetrate into underlying tissues. Despite its name, Warm Buddy products can also be chilled, making them perfect to help decrease swelling and inflammation.
“I think the vision was to get people to use these for more medical uses, (but) it’s branched into more comfort and fun and cosy,” said McKee, who added that she’s more than happy with the direction her company has taken.
More than just heat packs, the company has a spa line, a baby line and an accessories line, meaning that its many offerings include sports therapy wraps, warming slippers, robes, body pillows, baby blankets and essential oils.
Warm Buddy does not sell direct to the consumer, instead it goes through small retailers. Even though Warm Buddy has rejected the advances of a large Canadian department store, it has managed to grow in Canada, with about 800 retail outlets selling its wares, and internationally with Japan and Taiwan as key customers.
Warm Buddy’s retail clientele includes a number of high-end gift stores and spas. McKee said that the company tries to keep up with the latest colours and takes pains to stay creative with its products and patterns. Warm Buddy manufactures its products in Canada, another fact that draws its customers.
Warm Buddy is now working at continuing to expand in gift stores and spas and will certainly keep up its philanthropic works.
“Our motto is everybody needs a warm buddy,” said McKee.
On the North Shore, retail stores that sell Warm Buddy products include Spa Utopia, Escents Aromatherapy and the Blue Teapot. For more information about the company, visit www.warmbuddy.com.
