Build-A-Bear Workshop and Saturday

by Lauri Griffin | More from this Blogger

17 May 2008 02:22 PM

This morning when I got out of bed I was surprised to find my fourth grade twins already dressed, and with shoes on their feet. They'd read on the internet that Build-A-Bear Workshop was holding a charity bear stuffing, where the first 150 guests could stuff an animal for free, and donate the animal to different charities.

Since the Build-A-Bear store is a mall across town that we rarely go to, and the fact that the charity animals were limited to the first 150, I grumbled, got dressed and grabbed a cup of coffee for the road. I expected a line, but there wasn't. There was a small birthday party going on, but other than that we were the only ones in the store.

The kids got to pick if they wanted to send their animal to The Sunshine Kids Foundation, dedicated to children with cancer and SuperSibs! which serves siblings of children with cancer, or First Book, a program that gives new books to children of low income families, or Pet Shelters across America, dedicated to raising funds for local humane organizations.

Both my boys picked the animal shelters. The attendant gave them each a white furry puppy shell. They each picked out a heart, made a wish on the heart for the puppies at Pet Shelters, and got their dogs stuffed. It was over in a couple of minutes.

I do think this is a nice idea for younger children to learn about charity. My guys were a little old to be into the process. And I also wonder how many younger children had trouble parting with the cute little puppy dogs.

After we said goodbye to the puppies, we walked around the mall. It's much bigger and fancier than the one we normally go too. At a card store we saw a huge display of Webkinz. The owner was so taken with the twins and their interest in the toys that she showed us their storeroom - with thousands of Webkinz. It's a sight we will all remember. After that we had a snack, and found books we had to have at the bookstore.

I wonder what next Saturday will bring.

Also See:

St. Baldricks - Fundraising for Childhood Cancer

Volunteering with Kids

Family Volunteering

Learn more about Lauri Griffin

Lauri lives in Colorado with her husband and three sons. Amidst all the laundry and packing of lunches, she tries to keep parenting fun.

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