The grand finale for the Williams Lake Teddy Bears of Hope campaign is coming up next week and campaign spokesperson Anna Dell is hoping the lakecity will come through with lots of cuddly teddy bears for the cause.
The grand finale for the campaign will be Saturday, June 18 at Boitanio Mall from 1 to 4 p.m.
The finale takes place in conjunction with the Williams Lake and Daybreak Rotary clubs’ exciting Hot Summer Day Family Sock-Hop events being held in the west parking lot of Boitanio Mall to raise funds for Polio Eradication World Wide.
The event includes dancing, a costume contest, hot dogs, door prizes and the Laker’s Car Club.
Organizers encourage people to come dressed in their best 1950s outfits and have some old fashioned sock-hop dancing fun.
“Come see the mountain of teddy bears and add another to the final count,” Dell says.
Dell, as Miss British Columbia Canada, is in the running for this year’s Miss Canada International title.
The Teddy Bears of Hope campaign is an ongoing program of the Miss Canada International Organization started in 2005 by Sylvia Stark.
The reigning Miss Canada International becomes the national spokesperson of this charity and Bridget Nickerson, Miss Canada International 2010, is the current Canadian ambassador for the campaign.
Teddy bears are collected and distributed to children in other countries who are experiencing difficult times.
“The teddy bears encourage smiles and dreams for children who are lonely, underprivileged, and caught in a web of poverty and despair due to no fault of their own,” Dell says.
Hundreds of thousands of teddy bears have been donated across the world since this campaign of love and hope began.
Currently, plans are being made to send bears to children in Slave Lake, Alberta, and Japan.
Canadian teddy bears have brought smiles to children in Afghanistan, Cambodia, Guatemala, Sri Lanka and the Philippines.
Dell says our own Canadian forces are getting involved with the campaign.
There is a full container being shipped to Zimbabwe in late June.
Dell notes the teddy bears donated should be small to medium in size, preferably “pre-loved” (bears need not be new). Donors are asked to put the teddy bears in a zip lock bag along with a toonie to cover the cost of cleaning and storing the bears and a friendly message or story about the bear. City drop off locations are at the Tribune, Excelsior Jewellers, Rainbow’s End, Columneetza Secondary School, and the Cariboo Advisor.
“The Miss Canada International Organization has generously offered to take care of the shipping of the bears, so all we need to do is collect them,” Dell says.
“Let’s see how many teddy bears we can donate, Williams Lake!”
For further information, please visit www.teddybearsofhope.com, phone 416-434-9839, or e-mail info@teddybearsofhope.com.