Saturday Night, February 13th, 2021. With a total of 900 tickets sold, success is an understatement. The Teddy Bear Toss soared with virtual attendance of the game. With the cost of the 900 tickets, there were 500 new teddy bears purchased. These teddy bears will be going to: Southern Maine Health Center Emergency Room Department (Biddeford), Biddeford Housing Authority (Biddeford), Seeds of Hope (Biddeford), York County Shelter Programs (Alfred), Sweetser (Saco), Biddeford Police Department (Biddeford), Vet 2 Vet Maine (Biddeford) & York County Community Action Corporation (Sanford). Not to mention the other 2,500 stuffed animals that were collected outside of the new purchases. 

The event brought up a total of $4,670 to be donated to the United Way of York County. The most that have ever been raised during the event. These donations were from the ticket sales and the virtual 50/50 raffle. The 50/50 had raised a total of $840 by itself, with half of that going towards United Way. 

After the weeks, months, hours that were spent planning the Teddy Bear Toss, the Harold Alfond Forum Building Managers, along with David Whitten and Cynthia Furber, got to take a deep breath, their event went flawlessly. 

With the UNE women’s hockey team on the ice first, the game was back and forth, up and down the ice. The women’s blue team walking off the ice with a 2-0 lead. The men’s team, stepping onto the ice with an automatic 2-0 lead for the blue team, continued the Saturday night entertainment as the blue and white men’s teams battled it out in front of a roaring teddy bear crowd. The game was a total of 80 minutes, split between the Women’s and Men’s teams, with a 25-minute intermission. Both teams showed great teamwork and efforts on the ice adding to the excitement and energy of the special night. 

During the intermission, we heard some wise words from athletic director Heather Davis, Jenna Ingram from the United Way of York County, Kim LaChance from Southern Maine Health Care, and Rev. Shirley Brown from Seeds of Hope Neighborhood Center, all talking about the great impact this event has on their organization. We also saw a sneak peek at the bear kiss cam and the “Zamcam” as the Zamboni went around the ice and saw all the bears in the stands. Fans were then able to reminisce to some throwback plays of Teddy Bear Tosses in the past along with a couple of highlights. 

The Harold Alfond Student Building Managers are proud to say they had a part in this process, whether it be behind the scenes or front and center.