Williamsville North Varsity Hockey 5th Annual Teddy Bear Toss

This is the 5th year that Williamsville North is hosting the Teddy Bear Toss. It began when my son, Josh, was a senior at North.  Coach Bob Rosen asked me to help the team with community service and one of the players asked if we could host a teddy bear toss.  Tyler Durfee, my son’s friend, and a teammate had experienced a tragic family death by suicide a few years prior. Together we brainstormed and decided to raise funds and awareness for suicide and prevention and chose Crisis Services as the organization that would best support that goal.  Unfortunately, the North community had also experienced several tragic student deaths by suicide in those years before our first event and so it was very meaningful to many.

Each year I work with a few players on the team to plan the event which allows the players to develop leadership skills snd fulfill community service roles.  It has grown over the years both in the amount of money raised as well as the amount of education and awareness we have generated. In 2020 we had an information table with some giveaways and educational materials. This year we will do the same with the addition of rubber wristbands with a message of hope and the Crisis Services  24/7 hotline number on them.

I have stayed involved with the event even though my sons are now North Alums because I enjoy seeing these young men involved in something so important. They truly embrace the cause and rally their classmates as well! We have invited our opposing team each year to join in our efforts and both teams sell the bears at their respective schools – this year a total of 200 and still counting! We also added a direct donation link to Crisis Services for friends and family to donate. In 2020 we raised $2042.25 and this year we are hoping to pass $2500! We have had the support of a few businesses each year to defray the costs of the event so that all of the money raised goes directly to Crisis Services.

There are 5 key players at Williamsville North who have put in more of the leg work with me. They have spent extra time in meetings with me (2-3 x 30 min each) and also submitting forms to school, communicating with teammates to promote the event snd also setting up a schedule to oversee selling the bears at school. The players also picked up and delivered the bears to the opposing team. My guess is that each of the 5 key players has spent 5 hours of time throughout the past month. The other players have likely spent an hour or so each selling the bears.