Every week, I will be profiling an extraordinary human being who lives in our community. If you know someone who is doing something interesting with their life, I want to hear about it. Send me an email at [email protected].
It was a Christmas wish that came true.
Hailey Scott remembers it vividly. She was six years old, flipping through the pages of a World Vision magazine. She became disheartened to learn that not every household was like hers and there were children far away on the other side of the world who didn’t have much of anything. There were kids who actually didn’t even have a single teddy bear to call their own. And even though she was just a young girl, she was smart enough to be driven to do something about it. She started collecting donations from her family and friends and kids at her school and before she knew it, she had raised enough money to send her first box of teddy bears overseas.
And that was just the beginning…
When Christmas rolled around Hailey paid a special visit to Santa. She sat upon his lap, gazed up in all her sweet innocence and told him her Christmas wish.
“I’m sure he expected me to say a Barbie or a special toy, but I told him I just really wanted every little boy and girl to have a teddy bear of their own,” says Hailey, who, at 17, still hasn’t grown out of her sweet and caring nature. She’s an absolutely stunning teenager. “I told Santa what I did with World Vision and said, ‘If I did that, Santa, imagine what you could do?’”
Well, that Christmas wish took the jolly man by surprise. Word passed along to the right people at the Huntsville Place Mall and before Hailey knew it boxes were set up and teddy bear donations began to pour in. Her selfless request was having a big impact in the community.
The fact that people listened to this six-year-old girl… that has taught me so much. If you believe in something, it’s always okay to ask. Maybe it will turn into something so wonderful.
And so the annual teddy bear drive was born. The first year saw more than 500 teddy bears collected and distributed to local kids in need. Even the Salvation Army stepped up to help get those bears to boys and girls in time for Christmas. Hailey’s simple Christmas wish that everyone had a teddy to hug and call their own came true.
Over the last 11 years, it’s grown to be so much more. Hailey is officially known as Muskoka’s Teddy Bear Girl and to date she has collected over 10,000 cute and cuddly teddy bears for children and even adults who might not have one otherwise. Every year, around the end of November or early December, teddy bear donation boxes are set up at the mall and around town. A Teddy Bear Toss takes place at the Jack Bionda Arena where Otters’ fans are asked to bring a bear and toss it on the ice for a great cause. This year, 112 were collected.
While most of the bears are distributed around town, bears also go to local charities, victim services and churches. If there’s a need for bears for a special cause, Hailey will do her best to make sure no one is left without something to cuddle.
Sometimes I don’t have enough for a big shipment and I hate, absolutely hate, turning a request down because I don’t have enough. I would love to have all the bears in the world… but being able to just give out one bear is still the best feeling ever.
What Hailey does with the teddy bear drive is just a testament to the kind of girl she is. For most of her young life she has been a dedicated community volunteer. Service above self means something to her. It’s a way to give back to a town that has supported her from the very beginning. She volunteered as Santa’s elf at the Huntsville Place Mall for three years and was a counsellor for drama camp at the Algonquin Theatre. Hailey took part in fundraising and cat socialization at the Huntsville Animal Shelter when it was operating and raised over $1,000 for Red Cross for Haiti Relief. For the last six years, she has volunteered as a historical narrator at Muskoka Pioneer Village.
She’s also won multiple awards for her academics, including the Leaders of Tomorrow Award and a 5-Year Ontario Government Volunteer Service Award. She was acknowledged as a Young Woman of Distinction through YWCA Muskoka and she’s heavily involved in local theatre and musical productions.
She believes what she has been able to do – spreading love and hugs one teddy bear at a time – would not have ever been possible if it wasn’t for the support she received when she was just a precious six-year-old girl with a simple Christmas wish. And seeing how word has spread and that there continues to be a steady flow of requests for the bears, proves she has definitely done something right. The community has been behind her every step of the way and for that she is extremely grateful.
“It’s so nice people are there to support and help me… I couldn’t do it without the help of the community. People see me on the street and say, ‘Hi, teddy bear girl. It’s so sweet. They’ve watched me grow up and that’s special. It’s a little thing and it brings everyone together. I’m so blessed. I’m very lucky.”
Anyone who is interested in making a financial donation, which will go toward purchasing more teddy bears, can contact Hailey on the Teddy Bear Hotline at 705-789-3483 or on Facebook here: Hailey’s Wish – Muskoka Teddy Bear Girl.
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Laura Lewis says
In 2014 I went to Cambodia with a hockey bag filled with Hailey’s teddy bears. They were given to children in one of the poorest slums in Phnom Penh – it was truly a gift of love – teddy bear style. Sometimes help is stuffed with fluff 🙂 Thank you Hailey!
Judith Munroe says
Hailey, what a wonderful inspiration you are. The world is definitely a better place because of you.