TeddyBearToss_2024 Total
Following the goal, Bears players, along with dozens of volunteers took to the ice to assist in the collection of the stuffed animals, including team members from Hershey Entertainment & Resorts (HE&R), Children's Miracle Network Hershey (CMN), and Hershey Junior Bears. Once collected from the ice, more than 130 volunteers counted and bagged the stuffed toys.
As the teddy bears descended to the ice, forming massive piles, several Bears players were more than happy to dive into those plush piles, much to the delight of the standing-room-only crowd of 10,765.
“Every season, I would see [the Teddy Bear Toss] on social media, growing up around this area,” said Bears forward Alex Limoges, a Virginia native who attended Bears games in his youth and is now skating in his first season for the Chocolate and White. "It was always talked about when it was happening, and it's just kind of like, 'Oh, look at how many bears they got this year! Oh wait, they beat the record! They beat it again and again.' So, it was definitely something I was looking forward to. No words, really - I haven't been a part of that in a while, especially something of that magnitude, that was a lot of fun.
"The last time I was a part of [a Teddy Bear Toss], there weren't enough bears to really jump into the pile. But this year, I jumped in one or two times, and it was like jumping on a cloud. It was nice. And then I laid there, and I think people definitely aimed for you, so I took a couple in the face, but they're bears. It didn't hurt too bad, rather than punches."
Since Hershey began hosting the GIANT Teddy Bear Toss in 2001, the Bears have collected and distributed 464,107 teddy bears to children throughout Central Pennsylvania and surrounding areas.