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Pictured (right to left - top to bottom): James Holler, Drew Shields, Darren Sipe, Angela Maki, Craig Shields, Dawn Miller (GPRHF), Joan Nellis, April Morris, Jeanie Quesnel, Gerry Shields and Cole Lalonde. Photo Credit: Grande Prairie Regional Hospital Foundation Facebook.
By Shane Clausing
donations

Rentco Equipment donates 500 teddy bears to Grande Prairie Regional Hospital Foundation

Jan 13, 2021 | 2:11 PM

A Grande Prairie business donated 500 teddy bears to the Grande Prairie Regional Hospital Foundation this week.

The donation was made from Rentco Equipment after they learned that the Hospital Foundation was short of their teddy bear goal for 2020.

“When the teddy bear breakfast was cancelled, I was talking to Dawn (Miller) from the foundation office and she mentioned that they would go without teddy bears,” explained Joan Nellis, a partner with Rentco Equipment.

“That same day, I was talking to one of my partners Drew Shields and he asked, ‘how many bears was that?’ We found it was 500 bears and Drew said we’ll get you 500 bears.”

Once Drew made the decision, he called up Canadian Tire and ordered 500 bears for the Hospital Foundation to give to kids in the hospital this holiday season.

On January 13, three pallets of teddy bears was placed on the back of a semi-truck trailer and delivered to the Hospital Foundation.

Nellis tells EverythingGP that with many fundraisers and events being cancelled because of the COVID-19 pandemic, they felt now was the right time to give back to the community.

“We’re a family-owned company and my father, who was the owner previous to us, instilled into us the need to give back to your community. This year it was a little different because all of our staff parties were cancelled and the kids we’d normally give gifts to at Christmas in our company couldn’t have their big party, so this was the perfect way to make sure some kids in our community got what they wanted.”

“We are proud to do something small to lift the spirits of kids struggling though these kinds of intense difficulties.”

by Shane Clausing