Once a year, stuffed animals soar through the air inside an arena in Hershey, Pennsylvania, turning a hockey game into a heartwarming tradition known as the Teddy Bear Toss.
For more than 25 years, the Hershey Bears of the American Hockey League have invited fans to throw plush toys onto the ice after the team’s first goal of the game. Play pauses while volunteers gather the colorful pileup of bears, bunnies, and other cuddly creatures to donate to children in need across central Pennsylvania.
On Sunday, Bears defenseman Louie Belpedio scored just three minutes into the game, setting off a joyful downpour of 81,796 stuffed animals. Last year, the team set a world record with more than 102,000 toys collected in a single toss.
Since the tradition began in 2001, the Teddy Bear Toss has delivered nearly 650,000 stuffed animals to kids and families. This year’s event was boosted by the efforts of Gabby Kerchner, a high school junior from nearby Mechanicsburg.
Inspired after seeing the toss as a young fan, Gabby helped create the nonprofit Gabby’s Acts of Kindness, which collects stuffed animals year round for the annual event. Her group has gathered more than 125,000 plush toys since it began, including thousands that hit the ice this weekend.
The donated toys are shared with children throughout the region, including students at the Milton Hershey School, local schools, children’s hospitals, and military families.
As Gabby puts it, “Throw kindness around like confetti. You never know what a person’s going through.”
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