Teddy Confetti

This past Sunday, the Oshawa Generals held their twentieth annual Teddy Bear Toss during the team’s game against the Saginaw Spirit. As per tradition, the home crowd waited for their team’s first goal to throw the teddy bears onto the ice. In the 20 years that the Teddy Bear Toss has been going on, over 72,000 teddy bears have been thrown and collected. This year, the bears were donated to the Durham Children’s Aid Foundation Holiday Hope program, supported and presented by Active Green and Ross in Oshawa.

The Holiday Hope program provides gift hampers to approximately 2,000 children and youth in Durham Region. Each hamper includes new toys, books, clothing, household items, and a food voucher. The program supports children of all ages, including older youth, many of whom live independently. The Generals participated in the program as well, giving back to the community with the teddy bears collected from fans. Players also participate by spending the morning with other participants acting as Santa’s helpers for the foundation and putting together gift hampers for children in need across the Durham region.

It was Kenny Huether who scored the Gens first goal of the game in the third period, sending the teddy bears flying into the air and onto the ice, with a total of 5,605 being collected. In addition to the bears, GensNation also supported the Holiday Hope Program with a pass the bucket during the game, raising $2359.20. The teddy bears are currently being sorted and placed into hampers at the Durham Children’s Aid Foundation here in Oshawa.

Thank you to the fans for all of their generous support of this tradition and making the holidays a little bit brighter for families all across the region.