Teddy Bears’ Picnic goes virtual

May 31 event takes place on Facebook @chfmanitoba

Winnipeg, MB (May 6, 2020) – On May 31, 2020 Children’s Hospital Foundation of Manitoba (CHFM) will host Teddy Bears’ Picnic Gone Virtual. The event will be a day full of fun at home for families and include physical activities, at-home crafts and scavenger hunts, entertainment features and special video segments from the Dr. Goodbear Clinic and I Want to be a Scientist tent experts. The virtual event takes place in posts on the CHFM Facebook page @chfmanitoba.

The Foundation cancelled the 34^th annual outdoor Teddy Bears’ Picnic at Assiniboine Park per guidelines to help reduce the spread of COVID-19 in the community as the annual gathering can have as many as 40,000 participants in attendance.

“We’ve been looking at options to still provide something free and fun for families and that includes health education for kids. These are core concepts of our annual Teddy Bears’ Picnic,” says Stefano Grande, President & CEO of Children’s Hospital Foundation of Manitoba.

On May 31 , Teddy Bear’s Picnic Gone Virtual will have special posts featuring how to set up your picnic space at home, healthy picnic lunch to make, how to keep your care for your stuffed animal, how to make your teddy bear a cast or bandage a boo-boo, at home experiments from scientists at  Children’s Hospital Research Institute of Manitoba, as well as a special episode of The Good Day Show, which airs on  CHTV – the hospital’s closed circuit TV station for kids in hospital.

“We want to give all the families who are missing the outdoor event an opportunity to still have their Teddy Bears’ Picnic,  as well as share with them some of the things that happen in the Hospital for kids who are staying there right now,” says Grande.

The virtual picnic marks the final day to purchase Teddy Bears’ Picnic 50/50 Raffle tickets to support the Children’s Hospital Foundation of Manitoba which has seen significant challenges in raising funds for HSC Winnipeg Children’s Hospital since the pandemic started. More information about Teddy Bears’ Picnic Gone Virtual and the 50/50 raffle is available at goodbear.ca.

About Children’s Hospital Foundation of Manitoba

The Children’s Hospital Foundation of Manitoba is dedicated to ensuring that every child treated at HSC Winnipeg Children’s Hospital receives the best care possible.

Since 1971, with incredible donor support, the Foundation has raised more than $100 million to improve the lives of sick and injured children from Manitoba, Northwestern Ontario, and Nunavut. Funding supports important programs that bring comfort to sick children during difficult times, the purchase of life-saving equipment, and the advancement of pediatric health research that will improve the lives of children everywhere. Learn more about the impact you make at goodbear.ca.

For more information, contact:
Kathryn McBurney
Manager, Marketing & Communications
Children’s Hospital Foundation
C: 204-803-8518
E: kmcburney@goodbear.ca