Cole Shepard handing off one of the first bears from the 26th annual Canadian Tire Toque and Teddy Toss. (Photo: LNN, December 12, 2022)

By Sarah Jones

Over 700 stuffed animals donated to Chinook Regional Hospital after Toque and Teddy Toss

Dec 12, 2022 | 4:23 PM

LETHBRIDGE, AB – The Chinook Regional Hospital (CRH) has received a significant donation from the Lethbridge Hurricanes.

On Friday, December 9, 2022, the Hurricanes hosted its 26th annual Canadian Tire Toque and Teddy Toss as they faced off against the Medicine Hat Tigers.

Hundreds of fans showed up to take part in the special holiday game, which in turn, supported several different organizations.

During a break in the first period, fans began lobbing bagged stuffed animals and hats onto the ice, which have since been distributed to local charities in the region like the CRH, Lethbridge Family Services Angel Tree, the Blood Tribe Police and Emergency Services, RCMP Victim Services, and many more.

According to Jodie Anderson-De Boer, a Child Life Specialist at CRH, they were gifted over 700 bears to be given to youth in care.

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“I think this is one of the bigger years that we received the amount of teddy bears that we received,” said Anderson-De Boer.

She went on, “Hospitalization can be really stressful, increase anxiety, and just the ability to give the teddy bear helps calm everyone’s nerves, normalize the hospital experience a little bit and make it a little more palatable for the family to be in hospital during a stressful time in their child’s life.”

L to R: Jett Jones, Cole Shepard and Bryan Thomson showing off some of the bears collected at the 26th annual Canadian Tire Toque and Teddy Toss. (Photo: LNN, December 12, 2022)

On December 12, 2022 Lethbridge Hurricanes players, Jett Jones, Cole Shepard and Bryan Thomson handed out some of the first bears of the year to children at the Audiology and Children’s Allied Health Services.

Thomson, who’s played goalie with the Hurricanes for the past five years, expressed the team’s excitement to give back to the community.

“We haven’t been able to do it for a couple of years now, so we’re finally able to get back and help the community and the kids, it’s an awesome feeling,” explained Thomson.

“Just going out there and picking up the teddy bears, brings joy into our hockey life and for us too during the holiday season,” he explained, “But yeah, to be able to make a donation that big to a great overall cause is just a lot of fun.”

Teddy bears donated to the CRH are handed out throughout the year to children in pediatric care, mental health areas, emergency rooms, and intensive care units.

Young girl looking up to Bryan Thomson after receiving a teddy bear. (Photo: LNN, December 12, 2022)

Anderson-De Boer went on to detail what these stuffed animals can mean to some children. “Some of the experiences that I’ve had with kids giving them these teddy bears, it might be after a new diagnosis, it might be when they’ve arrived in the middle of the night and it’s 2:00 a.m. and they don’t have their comfort item from home, or their blanket or their special toy.”

“So now, they’re able to get a toy in its place,” she added. “It also helps kids tell the story and it’s a form of medicine, like it’s a narrative therapy to be able to tell the story of this is the teddy bear I got when I broke my arm, or this is the teddy bear I got when I got diagnosed with diabetes, things like that.”

“That really helps them internalize the story and move on from it. As part of the story and part of the struggle but not the defining memory, so it can boost that memory so it’s not all negative ” said Anderson-De Boer.

The Lethbridge Hurricanes collected more than a handful of donations from the public during their Friday game and beat the Medicine Hat Tigers 5-3.

A full recap of the weekend games can be found here.

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