Complaining about Charity

I had been looking forward to the Winterhawks' annual Teddy Bear Toss for several weeks. We put together a group 17 strong to go to the game and we...the Goose and I... bought quite a few bears to throw...17 or 18 I think it was. We wanted an even 20 but did not quite make it.

See, I have been going to the Teddy Bear Toss for several years now. There is just something inherently cool about celebrating a goal by throwing stuff on the ice. Combining that as a legitimate activity with the opportunity to share with a good cause...and Doernbecher's Children's Hospital is definitely that...and you have the potential for good things to happen.

I did not attend the first Teddy Bear Toss I don't think...but it was by the second or third time they did it that I was there. And I was there the night it exploded. The Winterhawks had a good team, the word got out, and the bears were flying. The staff was unprepared for the huge number of bears that were thrown. The delay in the game to pick up all the bears was extended to a frankly ridiculous amount of time. Previously they had pretty much just tossed the bears in the grey janitorial carts and called it good. There had not been a huge number of bears. That year they collected a windfall. I don't remember the numbers with accuracy, but I want to say it was in the neighborhood of 10K bears. They were expecting a couple thousand.

There were so many bears they went to the near-by auto dealership and borrowed some pickups to get the ice cleaned off. They were so completely unprepared for the huge, huge, huge number of bears that the game was delayed for a frighteningly long time while they tried to get all the bears off the ice. The truck would come out, get filled with bears, and go into the bowels of the stadium to unload, then come back for another load.

It was AWESOME.

Well, the next year we broke that record. And it was still ours. For several years Portland held the record. The Teddy Bear Toss was making national news for the sheer numbers of bears. It also made it when an opposing player for whatever reason decided it would be a good idea to shred one of the bears with his hockey stick. That was a horrific event that many of us have not forgotten. The player was suspended and again, if memory serves, he or Seattle was fined and later donated a bunch of bears as a public relations fix.

Well, Portland has been (rightfully) proud of their record. Last year, fan favorite Kyle Bailey scored the goal that brought down a whopping 14,361 bears. That is a lot of bears to come from less than 8000 fans, but it was a great night. Many of us brought multiple bears.

The Calgary Hitmen managed to break the record. They tossed 15,540 last December.

For whatever reason, this disturbed the Portland Hawkey (as it is "charmingly" (mis)spelled) fan. So we set out to reclaim "our" record.

And this year the record did not just fall, it was crushed. Demolished. Obliterated. Rendered meaningless.

See, this year Portland launched 21,067 bears last Saturday. On the surface, that is amazing, stupendous, and outstanding. And I did my part.

We had a group of 17. I do not know how many bears total we brought, but the Herdmans, Emily and myself alone brought at least 17. I know Phillip & Tracy brought some, The Collins family brought some, I think Kevin & Cassie brought some, and I am not sure about the Strands. But our group doubtless brought over 30 bears. And yes, I admit part of my reason in bringing so many was because I wanted to be part of retaking the record. Another part was gratitude to Doernbechers for what they did for our family when we had no money and a kid who doctors said would never walk. Someday I will tell you how wrong they were, almost entirely thanks to Doernbechers. It is a worthy charity.

Well, the Portland Winterhawks once more have the record. But it is one I am not happy about. The whole idea of the Teddy Bear Toss record is a grass roots things. These are actually contributed by the fans.

But not this year. On the one hand, the Dollar Tree deserves a HUGE thank you. They made a corporate donation of 15,000 bears. That is awesome. Way to go, Dollar Tree, that is giving back to the community and doing so in a meaningful way. That is obviously a lot of bears.

The only part I DON'T like is...they were piled up as you entered. Fans could pick them up for free in the Coliseum, carry them in, thrown them on the ice. Hmm...the old record is 15,540...they give fans 15K to throw on the ice...what are the odds this record will fall? I am thinking pretty good. The fans need to bring only 541 bears? Whatever.

Of course, without that contribution the record would not have fallen since the fans brought only a little over 5k bears. Not a good showing. But then again...why purchase and bring a bear if you can just pick one up off the ice and act like you are donating it?

I don't claim to know if the Calgary record was made largely through the help of corporate donors. Judging by the 17K fans they reportedly had in attendance, I suspect not. But this sort of record seems like it should be done by the fans, not a corporation.

I am not complaining about the donation by the Dollar Tree. I genuinely believe it is a good thing they did. I saw the bears they donated. They are not just the cheapest thing that could be found, they were decent, though not spectacular, bears. That sort of action should be commended and encouraged.

But the record is completely hollow and pointless. What, if Calgary gets 25K bears next year are you just going to find 2 corporations to pony up 15K bears each so we can have 30,001 bears on the ice?

What I was once excited about and a record I liked being a part of now just seems cheap and sullied. Just saying...