The Huggy Henry Stuffed Friend Clinic

One of the earliest childhood traumas I can remember involved my tushy in the air, nurses holding me down and a doctor trying to give me a shot in the tuchus. Like a greased pig I squirmed free and ran down the hallway naked as a jaybird only to be quickly wrangled up and given my shot.

47 years later we have the Huggy Henry Stuffed Friend Clinic. The concept is not new, Teddy Bear Clinics or Stuffed Friend Hospitals are held around the world in hospitals, libraries, museums and by various other community groups, all with the same goal: to try and ease people’s anxiety about medical visits.

The Huggy Henry Stuffed Friend Clinic (named after the Animal Fair Henry Dog I had as a child) currently occurs (4) times a year in conjunction with Fond du Lac’s Repair Café. The clinic is 100% free. ANYONE can bring in a stuffed friend, they will get a pack of crayons and coloring booklet titled Huggy Henry Gets A Check-Up, which walks the owner through our clinic process step-by-step. The stuffed friend and owner will start with our clinic team and can follow along in their coloring booklet as a clinic member takes the stuffed friend’s temperature, listens to their heart, and finally checks: eyes ears, nose and mouth. If everything is good the owner and their friend are free to go. If the friend needs a repair, they move on to our stuffed friend repair expert who will ask if the owner is OK watching as their friend gets repaired. If they are not the owner gets to color in their booklet and play the games on the last page, often with our clinic team, while their friend gets repaired. Our expert will often restuff the friend before sewing up any holes.

The next Huggy Henry Friend Clinic will be held Saturday January 31, 2026, from 10-2 in the McLane Room in the lower level of the Fond du Lac Public Library. If you or your community group are interested in starting your own friend clinic, please reach out to Shawn at repaircafefdl@gmail.com. Use of the Huggy Henry booklet for your own stuffed friend clinic is absolutely free.