As with so many other charitable events in Dallas/Fort Worth’s LGBTQ community, the 2020 version of The Teddy Bear Party — which would have been the event’s 10th anniversary — had to be cancelled. But the party came back with a purpose this year, despite a last-minute change in DJs. Although the total amount raised has yet to be finalized, Teddy Bear Party brought in more than 1,000 teddy bears that were donated to Children’s Health to help make sure every child hospitalized there has their own teddy bear to keep them company while they are there.
While the teddy bears, which are a required part of the cost of admission, are donated to Children’s Health, other beneficiaries include Children’s Cancer Fund, Equality Texas and Family Equality.
A last-minute personal emergency for one of the scheduled DJs meant organizers had to find a replacement, but DJ Aaron Elvis and DJ Corey Craig stepped right, joining opener DJ Winters to keep the music playing and the people dancing all night.
Watch for updates to this post once final totals are available.
— Tammye Nash
Teddy Bear Party participants each year gather again the morning after to deliver the donated bears to Children’s Health. This year, as part of COVID safety protocols, nurses came outside to meet the bear delivery group and gathered up the donations to carry back inside.
