Hershey Bears: AHL hockey team collects nearly 82,000 stuffed animals for charity

AHL hockey team collects nearly 82,000 stuffed animals for charity

Updated: Jan 12, 2026 / 10:13 PM CST

HERSHEY, PENNSYLVANIA – JANUARY 04: Clay Stevenson #31 of the Hershey Bears plays amongst the stuffed teddy bears and other toy animals at the Giant Center on January 04, 2026 in Hershey, Pennsylvania. The game between the Hershey Bears and the Rockford Ice Hogs was also Hershey’s annual Teddy Bear Toss game where fans throw stuffed animals onto the ice to be donated to various children’s charities. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)

(NewsNation) — Stuffed animals can provide joy to the receiver and a sense of compassion for the provider, and it was no different last week at a minor league hockey game.

The AHL’s Hershey Bears collected more than 81,796 stuffed animals for charity as part of their annual “Teddy Bear Toss.”

The plushy pals are donated to over 60 local charities as part of the club’s Hershey Bears Cares initiative.

“I definitely think a lot of people don’t really understand what that (Teddy Bear Toss) number means. All the places that it goes puts a tear in my eye,” said Hershey Bears season ticket holder Gabby Kerchner.

Since the Hershey Bears first started the event 25 years ago, fans and the team’s corporate partners have supplied nearly 650,000 teddy bears and other stuffed animals.

The Bears set a world record at last year’s event with 102,343 toys tossed.

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