This year’s Teddy Bear Toss tradition held by the Salvation Army in Moose Jaw concluded on a high note with both a Moose Jaw Warrior’s victory and a wonderful evening in support of children this holiday season.

The Teddy Bear Toss brought in 1,764 stuffies and an additional 970 items ranging from socks to baseball caps and assorted clothing on Dec. 6.

“It was a wonderful event,” announced Major Byron Kean, the corps officer of the Salvation Army in Moose Jaw.

And yes, the Moose Jaw Warriors did end up winning the night’s game as Rilen Kovacevic scored his second goal of the night to win it 4 — 3 against the Regina Pats in overtime with just 1:31 left on the clock. The win ended Moose Jaw’s five-game losing streak to improve the team’s record to 7 — 19 — 3 — 1.

All said, the cleanup took around 20 minutes to completely clear the ice and involved three double cab pickup trucks and filled a five-ton truck around three quarters of the way full “from the front to the back.”

“It was a huge, huge event for us, and we want to say thank you to the Warriors organization for arranging that and supporting us in that endeavor,” he said.

“It just provides a lot of comfort to a lot of families when you get that many toys and you’re able to bring joy to children’s lives on Christmas morning.”

Now that these cuddly donations have been processed, they’ll be distributed to local families in need and to other local organizations that support children’s causes. Kean said the Salvation Army also reaches out to support other organizations in need during the holiday season including the Moose Jaw Multicultural Council.

“We did drop off some (of the stuffies) to the hospital for the pediatric ward, just to let them know that we are thinking about them at Christmas time and to provide them with support,” Major Kean added.

The bulk of the stuffies will go toward the Salvation Army’s own Christmas hamper campaign which is currently underway.

“Just to say it again, thank you to the Moose Jaw Warriors Hockey Club, the fans, and the community for supporting us in that endeavour. We truly, truly appreciate it,” he concluded.

The Salvation Army Thrift Store is located at 175 First Avenue Northeast and can be reached at 306-692-5899.

For more information visit SalvationArmyMooseJaw.ca or ‘The Salvation Army in Moose Jaw’ on Facebook.

Aaron Walker

Reporter

Moose Jaw Express