The Hershey Bears just set a huge record for their annual Teddy Bear Toss charity event. Fans threw over 25 000 stuffed animals onto the ice.
The Hershey Bears played against the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins and won the game 4-3 in overtime. But the big news of the day was the actual teddy bear toss.
Usually Teddy Bear Toss events improve their records by small number. But not the Hershey Bears’ teddy bear toss.
Last year fans donated 20 662 stuffed animals. The team and fans aimed to improve this number this year by a sizeable margin. And they did just that. After the first goal of this year’s game, fans threw exactly 25 017 stuffed animals onto the ice.
A day later all of the toys were collected, checked and distributed. More than 30 charities and also the military received from the donated stuffed animals. This way most of the toys will be able to bring a smile to a child in need before Christmas.
All of this requires a lot of people and great organization. Moving 25 000 stuffed animals and getting them to the people so quickly is a feat by itself.
We truly have the greatest fans, don’t we? Here’s yet another great angle to show thousands of teddy bears being donated to local charities! Another successful Teddy Bear Toss ✔️ #HBH #DefendTheDen #TeddyBearTossHershey pic.twitter.com/s1GEYDs0Fc
— Hershey Bears (@TheHersheyBears) December 4, 2017
The team thanked the fans calling them the greatest ever. The GIANT center was certainly the place of a GIANT teddy bear toss. Now the Calgary Hitmen which traditionally host the largest teddy bear toss events and will play in a few days, have an even bigger competitor and a bigger challenge.
So, it’s going to be quite interesting to see if their fans will manage to keep the Teddy Bear Toss crown for yet another year. The team is already rallying up its fans more and more. “Dec. 10 is getting closer and closer! Almost time to show the world once again why we are the best at this!”, wrote the Hitmen on Twitter.
The Hitmen hold the all-time teddy bear toss record with 28 815 stuffed animals from 2015. The Hershey Bears got very close to it, so they might break it next year. In fact, the Bears’ record is the highest for a professional hockey game. So, the Calgary Hitmen fans have quite the challenge to overcome. It’s shaping up to be quite the event. Of course, we’re going to watch closely to see what will happen. And we will keep you posted, so stay tuned!
