Dab the AIDS Bear Needs Your Help with Teddy Bear Touchdowns for Children Living with HIV
Before activist Dab Garner’s god-daughter Candace died of AIDS-related complications in 1989, at age four, “I promised her I would make other kids like her feel loved,” he says. And thus, since Christmas was Candace’s favorite holidays, for each the twenty-seven years since, Garner and the Dab the AIDS Bear Project have sponsored Teddy Bear Touchdown holiday parties in her honor for children living with AIDS. The parties, which began in San Francisco, serve primarily children from low-income families.
The Teddy Bear Touchdown parties begin during the first week in December, World AIDS Week, and continue through the month. At the parties, each child receives a teddy bear and one other gift, which they are encouraged to take home and open in celebration of whatever December holiday they celebrate (Christmas, Hannukah, Kwanzaa, etc.). The parties also feature holiday music with choirs and soloists, a Santa Claus (for those so interested), and raffle drawings for food baskets and other items. For many of these AIDS-stricken children from poor families, these are their only holiday treats.
Unfortunately, like most AIDS-related service organizations, Dab the AIDS Bear Project struggles to raise the money for these Teddy Bear Touchdown parties. There are currently 314 children waiting for sponsors to make their holidays a little cheerier. That’s where you come in! For a mere $25.00 you can sponsor one of these children and guarantee her or him a brighter holiday filled with love and hope.
Visit www.dabtheaidsbearproject.com/spchfortebet.html to make your donation. Or you can send a check ($25.00 donation per child) to “Dab the AIDS Bear Project” and mail it to: Dab the AIDS Bear Project, 299 East Screech Owl Drive, Kuna, ID 83634.
Reporting by Hank Trout