Build-A-Bear Workshop seeks Huggable Heroes

Staff report

st. louis

A recent survey shows that today’s youths are more in touch with the needs of their communities than ever before.

In a poll conducted by Build-A-Bear Workshop, 98 percent of the 400 young people responding said it is important to help others.

Through its Huggable Heroes program, Build-A-Bear Workshop recognizes and encourages young leaders, ages 8 to 18, who provide extraordinary service in their communities and around the world.

The eighth annual search for these special people is on. Anyone, ages 8 and older, is eligible to nominate a candidate (and kids can nominate themselves) by visiting www.lovehugssmiles.com/HuggableHeroes.aspx or by picking up an entry form at participating Build-A-Bear Workshop stores in the United States, Puerto Rico and Canada. Nominations will be accepted through Feb. 28.

Entries will be narrowed to 75 semifinalists in March and to 25 finalists by the end of April. Ultimately 10 new Huggable Heroes — eight from the United States and Puerto Rico and two from Canada — will be selected to join the ranks of more than 100 other youths from previous years.

Each new Huggable Hero will receive a $7,500 scholarship toward his or her college education and a $2,500 donation from the Build-A-Bear Workshop Foundation for a 501(c)(3) charity or Canadian cause of his or her choice.

The Huggable Heroes will also win a trip for themselves and a guardian to St. Louis, Build-A-Bear Workshop World Bearquarters.

“Our Huggable Heroes program was born of the desire to encourage and reward young people to give back to their communities,” said Maxine Clark, Build-A-Bear Workshop founder and chief executive bear. “While the monetary prize provides an incentive, it also represents an investment in both the causes these kids support and their education so they can continue to cultivate their leadership skills and achieve even bigger goals.”

Throughout the years, Build-A-Bear Workshop has heard thousands of stories of young people who do things both big and small to help improve other peoples’ lives.

Some of last year’s Huggable Heroes included inspiring young leaders such as a boy from Castleton, N.Y., who started Literacy Education for All People, a multiyear initiative to help reduce illiteracy and increase literacy education and awareness on local and global levels. Through his initiative, he has distributed more than $6 million worth of educational supplies, both in the United States and abroad.

A girl from British Columbia founded Little Women for Little Women in Afghanistan, an organization that raises funds to educate girls in Afghanistan. To date, she has helped raise more than $137,000 through silent auctions, bottle drives and other events.

A girl from Hawaii is president of Kids Helping Kids with Diabetes, an organization that educates, raises funds for research and provides support services to people with Type I diabetes. She has collected more than $121,000 in funds and grants which she has donated to the Hawaii Chapter of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.

Build-A-Bear Workshop Inc. is the only global company that offers an interactive make-your-own stuffed animal retail-entertainment experience.

The company operates more than 400 Build-A-Bear Workshop stores worldwide.

Founded in St. Louis in 1997, Build-A-Bear Workshop is a leader in interactive retail.