Bear Givers Event for the RUSK Institute

It’s my pleasure to introduce you to one of our clients at work Bear Givers. I’ve always been really passionate about working for non-profits after working on a couple of pro bono campaigns and am excited to share Bear Giver’s mission with you. 

Bear Givers brings joy to terminally ill children, the elderly and others in need with the gift of a teddy bear. They believe that it is better to give than receive and their mission shines throughout all of their programs. They also have an empowerment program that works with special needs children to help them appreciate the art of giving. Often special needs children are on the receiving end and Bear Givers works with the children by giving them a teddy bear and then giving them another one to give to someone else in their community. They also have an empowerment art program that allows the children to make an art piece and have it auctioned off with the proceeds going toward their school or hospital. A large part of what Bear Givers does is partner with different hospitals and schools around the tri-state area and host the art galleries and silent auctions to benefit their institutions.

For this event, Bear Givers had partnered with NYU Langone’s RUSK Institute of Rehabilitation and displayed the artwork at the Cue Art Foundation in Chelsea. As Bear Giver’s public relations firm, we stepped up by getting in touch with local celebrities to get them involved by donating a piece of artwork. We sent out art kits to selected celebrities and were very happy to be able to feature artwork from Martha Stewart, Yoko Ono, Hoda Kotb, Kathie Lee Gifford, Nobu, and a couple of New York Giants players among others. We also managed the set-up, sign-in, and all of the silent auction details. This was my first working experience with a silent auction so it was also really great to see how things roll out. 

The event turned out fantastic! The artwork, celebrity and kids, turned out fabulous. It was so neat to see some of the artists at the event and see their excitement with their artwork being on display next to some of their favorite celebrities as well. The artwork, catering, band, speech, and attendees made for such a great night. By the end of the night we had over 400 people come and raised over $20,000 for a great cause. I’d say it was a success!