PSU 7th annual Teddy Bear Toss collects 1,000 toys for Dartmouth-Hitchcock

PLYMOUTH — The Marketing Association of Plymouth State University hosted its seventh annual Teddy Bear Toss event benefiting patients at the Children’s Hospital at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center. The event took place during the men’s ice hockey game against New England College on Friday, Dec. 8, and the women’s hockey game against Williams College on Saturday, Dec. 9, at PSU’s Hanaway Ice Rink.

Attendees were encouraged to bring new stuffed animals to the game to be tossed onto the ice when the PSU men's and women’s teams scored their first goal. Teddy bears were also made available at both games. At the Friday night men’s game, Carson Lanceleve scored the Panthers’ first goal at 6:45 in the second period, which triggered a deluge of stuffed animals onto the ice, including a 7.5-foot red bear that was raffled off before the game. On Saturday, a flood of plushies rained down on the ice at the end of the women’s game. Combined, PSU hockey fans threw a total of 1,077 stuffed animals onto the rink, all of which will be given to CHaD.

Nine-year-old Myles Pelkey of Barre, Vermont, a CHaD ambassador and former patient who is recovering from acute ulcerative colitis following colon surgery four months ago, was the guest of honor and performed the ceremonial puck drop at Friday’s game. The giant red bear was thrown onto the ice and was later gifted to Pelkey, who was happy to take it home.

PSU’s annual Teddy Bear Toss is the largest stuffed animal donation event for pediatric patients at Children’s Hospital at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center. 

The men’s hockey team defeated New England College 4-1; the women’s team saw a 7-0 loss to Williams College.

To learn more about Plymouth State University, visit plymouth.edu.