Central Oregon motorcyclists’ 23rd annual Teddy Bear Run rolls on, despite COVID-19
BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) – A nearly quarter-century tradition of Central Oregon motorcycle riders rolling into town and providing hundreds of cuddly teddy bears to Central Oregon’s youngest patients wasn’t about to be stopped by a pandemic, though it did have to change a bit.
The 23rd annual Teddy Bear Run took place on Saturday, as 130 riders from ABATE of Oregon's Central Oregon chapter and the Central Oregon Motorcycle Riders loaded up and zoomed their way to the four St. Charles hospitals in Bend, Redmond, Prineville and Madras with their special “passengers.”
They delivered 2,000 teddy bears for the pediatric patients, though they had to be handed off to caregivers, rather than directly to the kids, due to COVID-19 precautions St. Charles officials said in a Facebook post Monday, “but the sentiment was still the same.”
“Thank you for your participation and the donation of these sweet teddy bears,” the hospital system said in its posting.
