Ten years ago, we already reported on an absolutely awesome charity event that takes place in US hockey leagues.
The rule for participating in the charity event is simple, but very cute! The promotion starts after the first puck is scored in a certain hockey game! Fans of the teams bring soft toys to the game in advance. And after the first effective attack ending in a goal, hockey fans throw the toys on the ice arena. Then, the collected toys are donated to charity and social funds. This action is many years old, but it is gradually increasing in scale. In 2014, we wrote about 25,000 teddy bears collected! At that time it was a record! But a few days ago a new record was set!
In the American Hockey League (the second most important hockey league in North America after the NHL) on 8 January there was a match between Hershey and the Lehigh Valley Phantoms. The first period brought no result for either team, the players went into the break with a zero draw. But already at the 5th minute of the second period, after a swift attack, the Hershey players managed to hit the opponents’ goal! And the … plush madness began! There’s no other way to describe it. And how can you characterise the action, which resulted in 74,599 toys of different sizes! Such a number of toys on the ice is a new world record in hockey arenas! In order for the fans to throw away the toys brought with them, and then the staff of the sports arena to remove them from the ice, the match had to be suspended for an hour! Of course, the stands of the closed ice arena cannot accommodate so many people. Therefore, it is easy to guess that each fan brought not one, but several toys! Look at the sincerity and joy with which everyone participates in the action – fans, hockey players, AHL officials.
Now the toys will be donated to orphanages, or sold at a charity auction, and the money will be spent to help those in need.
Great idea and great execution of the campaign!
