The Hershey Bears held the annual Giant Teddy Bear Toss on Sunday as the Rockford IceHogs, from Rockford, Illinois, came to town.
A Bears fixture since 2001, the toss of teddy bears and other stuffed animals takes place after the Bears score their first goal.
Player Louie Belpedio scored the goal 2:55 into the first period that prompted fans to toss stuffed animals onto the ice. Here’s a link to the video.
The Bears collected 81,796 teddy bears and stuffed animals during Sunday’s Giant Teddy Bear Toss, increasing the total number of teddy bears and stuffed animals collected to 648,246 since Hershey hosted its first Teddy Bear Toss event in 2001.
Hershey’s 102,343 teddy bears collected in 2025 remains a world hockey Teddy Bear Toss record.
As part of the club’s “Hershey Bears Cares” initiative, which showcases the philanthropic activities and volunteer efforts of Bears players and staff members throughout the community, teddy bears and stuffed animals are collected and donated to more than 60 local and regional organizations, according to the team website.
These organizations include Harrisburg School District, Gigi’s Playhouse Lancaster, Bethesda Mission, LaMancha Animal Rescue, Hospice of Central PA, Lancaster County Food Hub, Milton and Catherine Hershey Schools, and Elizabethtown Fire Department.
For the past decade, the Sweigart Family Foundation of Lancaster County has made the Teddy Bear Toss even more impactful by donating $1 to Children’s Miracle Network at Golisano Children’s Hospital for every animal thrown on the ice.
This year, the Giant Company is honoring the late Jeff Sweigart, a devoted Bears fan and longtime season ticket holder, to keep his passion alive. The Giant Company has pledged a $100,000 donation to the hospital if fans can surpass last year’s total number of collected bears.
