Build-A-Bear Workshop Kicks Off 2014 Huggable Heroes Contest

Teddy bears can do a lot more than cuddle; now, they’re honoring some of this nation’s finest heroes.

On May 14, Build-A-Bear Workshop and the United Service Organization joined together to host an event to build awareness for two charitable programs that kicked off this May: Build-A-Bear’s Huggable Heroes and USO’s Every Moment Counts campaign. Held at the Build-A-Bear Workshop on Fifth Avenue in Midtown Manhattan, the event brought together military members and their families and former Huggable Heroes to build teddy bears to be donated to military families. Children from St. Aloysius Jesuit School in Harlem were also invited to help out at the event.

Brianna Dent, a third-grade honor role student at St. Aloysius Jesuit School, said she thought helping others was fun and it felt good to build a teddy bear for the “military people."

"I hope a child gets it," Brianna said of the bear she created.

Two former Huggable Heroes, Robbie and Brittany Bergquist, spoke at the event. Huggable Heroes is an annual program that recognizes and awards scholarships to select youths ages 8 through 18 for their amazing service efforts. This year, 10 Huggable Heroes throughout the country will each receive a $5,000 scholarship in addition to a $25,000 donation to the charity of each winner’s choice. The program is accepting nominees through June 12.

An inspiring brother-sister duo now in their early 20s, the Bergquists from Massachusetts were awarded in 2009 for Cell Phones for Soldiers, a program they founded in 2004 that provides calling cards for military personnel. Recognition as Huggable Heroes has aided the Bergquists in completing their education and has helped them continue growing Cell Phones for Soldiers.

“It’s really an incredible program,” Brittany Bergquist said of Huggable Heroes. “It really helped us to build our organization and give us a platform.”

Margi Kirst, vice president of marketing at USO, spoke at the event as well, explaining USO’s new Every Moment Counts campaign. Kirst said USO feels Build-A-Bear Workshop is the perfect partner for its campaign.

“Build-A-Bear is all about family and community, and we do so much for military families because, to make a troop strong, the family has to also feel supported,” Kirst said. “Build-A-Bear really gets that.”

The Every Moment Counts campaign is focused on creating memorable moments for troops and their families. Because of how often they are deployed or living on base far from family, Kirst said, military personnel and their families often miss out on many important events such as births, graduations, and more. The campaign has partnered with Build-A-Bear to raise funds to try to make up for some of those moments while creating new ones. This would include paying for troops to call home, increasing their comfort, providing rehabilitative services, holding career workshops, and recreation.

As a “thank you” for the troops, USO gave event attendees the opportunity to sign a flag for the soldiers. The USO hopes, once the flag is complete, to set the Guinness World Record for most signatures on a flag. At usomoments.org, those wishing to participate can upload their digital signature to be printed on the flag throughout the month of May.

The USO invites those interested to share personal messages of thanks to our nation’s armed forces through Twitter. When participants use the hashtag #babwUSOthanks, Build-A-Bear Workshops has promised to donate $1 for each tweet from now though June 30 to the Every Moment Counts campaign (up to $50,000). And, for a limited time, when you buy military-themed items, Build-A-Bear Workshop will donate part of the proceeds to the USO. Those wishing to make personal donations to the USO can also do so at secure.uso.org.