Bear Rock Café and Wake County Human Services invite local citizens to take part in "SHARE A BEAR," a children-helping-children charity drive to benefit children in foster care. Sundays, September 12, 19 and 26, from 4-7 p.m., each of the seven Triangle-area Bear Rock Café locations are accepting donations of new backpacks, stuffed animals and toiletries, which Wake County Human Services will then distribute to local children in foster care.
SHARE A BEAR starts Sunday, September 12, with special activities for children at Bear Rock Café, Crossroads Plaza, Cary. From 5 to 7 p.m., children and their parents can visit Beauregard, the Bear Rock mascot, receive balloons and faux tattoos, meet Durham Bulls mascot Wool E. Bull, learn about bike safety from Town of Cary police officers and more. SHARE A BEAR is part of Bear Rock's Kids' Night Promotion, featuring family events and allowing kids 12 and under to dine for free (when accompanying adult purchases any sandwich or salad). Subsequent Sunday nights in September will feature additional events for children at the Crossroads location.
SHARE A BEAR participants are asked to bring new backpacks along with new stuffed animals and toiletries to Bear Rock Café. For their donation, children will receive an "I Shared!" pride sticker.
"There are several key goals of the 'Share A Bear' initiative," Deneen Nethercutt, Vice President of Marketing for Bear Rock Foods, Inc., said. "One goal is to help children in our community through a partnership among businesses, vendors, citizens and a government agency. The second goal is for a family-friendly business to do a bit more with Kids' Night by providing an opportunity to expose children to the idea of charitable giving to other children who may be in difficult circumstances."
In Wake County, more than 600 children were placed in foster care in 2003. Nationally, there are more than 530,000 children in foster care. Before reaching the age of 18, children in foster care in the United States move an average of seven times. Frequently when these moves occur, all the child may have is a plastic bag in which to place a few personal belongings.
"We're deeply appreciative to Bear Rock Café for sponsoring this important drive, both locally and throughout their service communities," said Vanessa Hickmon, foster parent recruiter for Wake County Human Services. "By providing this type of support, we can help ease the transition a child faces when entering foster care. It's so important that our community embrace and support children in foster care."
Bear Rock Café's SHARE A BEAR program is modeled after Makenzie Snyder's CHILDREN TO CHILDREN charity drive. CHILDREN TO CHILDREN, a national, not-for-profit organization, was started a few years ago by then-eight-year-old Makenzie Snyder of Maryland when she realized foster children have so few possessions and are frequently given a plastic bag to use for packing their belongings. Snyder's Web site, www.childrentochildren.org, provides information on how to support children in foster care.
Other SHARE A BEAR events at the Bear Rock Café in the Crossroads Plaza include a September 19 appearance by Cotton the Clown and fire safety tips from District 2 Fire Station in Cary from 5 to7 p.m. On September 26, children and their parents can learn healthy eating habits through an "Eating Right" presentation by the N.C. Department of Agriculture, from 5 to 6 p.m., along with martial arts demonstrations by White Tiger Gym and Face Painting by Cory, from 5 to 7 p.m. Visit www.bearrockfoods.com for more information.
Triangle area Bear Rock Cafés, all of which are participating in the SHARE A BEAR campaign, are located at Saltbox Village and Crossroads Plaza in Cary, Park Place and University Mall in Chapel Hill, and Creekside Crossings, Lake Boone and Northridge in Raleigh.