Teddy Bears Anonymous celebrates 15

More than 300 teddy bears and 1,500 hot dogs were handed out in Regina on Saturday for the Teddy Bears Anonymous 15th-year anniversary. In partnership with the Regina Police Service (RPS), they held a celebratory fundraising event in the parking lot of Rochdale's Co-op.

Those involved raise money to purchase teddy bears that are dispersed to children in need.

"That's what the charity does. We give teddy bears to the sick kids in the hospital," said Luke Lawrence, Teddy Bears Anonymous Regina president. "We racked 190,000 bears right now for (the) 15 years anniversary and we give them to hospitals and Saskatchewan EMS."

The charity was founded by Lawrence after his daughter Erin died from a rare form of cancer in 2007. To create awareness, he decided to gift teddy bears to children in her memory. Erin had a love for teddy bears and always wanted to help sick children in need.

"She loved kids," he said. "So, it's a perfect connection."

This year, organizers brought in a big cake to hand out, a petting zoo and a hamburger and hot dog sale and also gave out teddy bears to kids in attendance.

"People are lining up here, everybody has a smile on their face, kids are lining up for teddy bears," Lawrence said. "There isn't a reason not to smile today. And that's our slogan: building a smile one teddy bear at a time."

RPS Chief Evan Bray said they value the work that Teddy Bears Anonymous does in the community for sick and vulnerable children, who are sometimes in very tough and traumatic situations.

"I can tell you personally, I’ve actually retrieved teddy bears out of our vehicles that have been donated by Teddy Bears Anonymous and given them to children at the scene of a very tough call," he said. "We had an accident one night where children were involved. It was a serious accident, and the children were so scared. Handing them those teddy bears and having them clutch onto those teddy bears, it's therapy, really, for the kids and it's a comforting thing. And it's so nice to see."

Bray added that the work that Lawrence and volunteers with Teddy Bears Anonymous do is incredible and instrumental in helping children in their care.