"Bears for Christmas - A True Fairy Tale"

Once upon a time a little boy named Jason wanted to do something special to help out other kids for Christmas. He knew children liked toys and stuffed bears so in late July, he decided to start a fundraiser. His plan was to use as much of his business money as he could to buy teddy bears for kids in the hospital but he knew if he could get others to help out, he would be able to buy a lot more bears.  He set a goal of donating 250 bears to kids at Rady Children's Hospital in San Diego, California.

Money came in slowly at first but after KNSD interviewed Jason on their news and MSN ran his story on their website home page, donations came down like snow.

Many family and friends donated along with tons of strangers.  Before Thanksgiving, his small fundraiser totaled $5,130 which was enough to buy 1800 teddy bears. A group of 8th graders from Detroit Country Day School in Beverly Hills, Michigan donated $119 from their bake sale money.  Three military guys stationed in Iraq contributed and a man living in Japan also supported Jason's cause.  But he couldn't forget all the others who donated from $5 to $500.

Money wasn't the only thing that people donated.  Junior Achievement in Los Angeles, California donated special teddy bears and an assortment of stuffed animals arrived from Build-A-Bear Workshop.

With the help of his mom and dad, Jason tied donation tags on all 1800 bears that named each person who donated.  Having so many bears to deliver, Jason asked Santa's elves for help. In no time at all, Jason got a call from a nice woman at Hemet Hospice in Hemet, California saying they would be happy to donate their truck so Jason could deliver the bears to the kids in the hospital.
 
The day finally came. Everything went according to plan. As Jason and his parents were unloading the many bags of bears at the hospital, several patients were being discharged.  They were very excited to receive a soft, cuddly teddy bear as they left the hospital. 

Many kids had a very special Christmas this year because of Jason's efforts and all of the kind and generous people who helped out.  For a list of supporters & other details, click here.