The Hershey Bears set a world record on Sunday evening after an insane 34,798 stuffed animals were thrown on the ice during the team’s annual Teddy Bear Toss. It was truly a sight to behold.
The tens of thousands of stuffed animals will go to 30 local charities near Hershey and make a lot of kids happy during the holiday season.
Over the last 24 hours, Bears fans’ kindness has gone viral with features even on ESPN’s SportsCenter.
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You helped us set a WORLD RECORD & news organizations across the world are taking notice, including @espn! #TeddyBearTossHershey was featured on @SportsCenter. #BearsCares pic.twitter.com/5Syfrdroek
— Hershey Bears (@TheHersheyBears) December 3, 2018
ESPN took it another step further when they tweeted out the goal video. The tweet was retweeted over 3,000 times and has 12,000 likes.
.@TheHersheyBears fans toss toys on the ice during a game each year to be collected for local charities.
This year, they set a world record by throwing *34,798* toys 🙌 pic.twitter.com/Uirxpu0sLE
— ESPN (@espn) December 3, 2018
The NHL even recognized the feat with a video on their Instagram and a push notification out to fans with the NHL app downloaded on their phone.
Check out all these national mentions.
- ESPN – AHL’s Hershey Bears set Teddy Bear Toss record, collecting 34,798 toys
- NHL on NBC Sports – Unleash the furry: 34,798 teddy bears fly as Hershey Bears set world record
- Yahoo Sports – Hershey Bears set Teddy Bear Toss record with 34,798 collected for charity
- Sports Illustrated – Monday’s Hot Clicks: Hershey Bears Shatter Teddy Bear Toss Record With 34,798
- CBS Sports – LOOK: Hershey Bears shatter Teddy Bear Toss world record with nearly 35,000 stuffed animals
- Deadspin – This Is Too Many Stuffed Toys
Well, I’m not sure I agree with that Deadspin article.
There were 10,046 fans in attendance of Sunday’s game, which works out to approximately 3.5 teddy bears per fan. Many fans attending brought in bags upon bags of stuffed animals, while one family brought 236 on their own. One fan named Gabby spent the year collecting 5,050 stuffed animals on her own for donation. She excitedly wrote on Facebook that collection for next year begins today.
I also covered the event for RMNB on the ice. View my photos from the night.
Photos: Cara Bahniuk
