Recycling and Re-gifting Teddy Bears

Teddy bears are the probably the most popular toy of all time. 

But flashy new toys come out all the time, and peer pressure tells people that teddy bears are not for the adults or the boys. 

The teddy has two options: buried in a closet in secret, or given away.

Maybe the family moved and didn't have room for it.  Maybe the kid got a new game system and Mom and Dad figured the bear was just one more thing laying around.  Maybe the bear got lost on vacation.

So, teddy ends up in a yard sale or the thrift store at best, the landfill at worst. 

But teddy bears are mass produced, and at clearance prices are incredibly cheap. What can a pre-owned bear do to compete?

The most likely solution seems the classic give away to charity.  Foster kids, hospitalized kids and other charities always are on the look out for toys.  Just one trouble.  They only want new toys. 

Now I recognize that an old bear might have germs.

  But not every used bear has been heavily used by a child.  Just a few years ago, my Granny and I went to Wal-Mart right after Christmas and found ourselves lured into incredibly cheap, sweet faced teddies.  These teddies did nothing but sit on the couch and look cute.  They might have been hugged now and again, cuddled while watching a movie.  They posed for an occasional picture.

When Granny died, my family was tossing stuff and giving stuff away.  Relatives stuck the bears I couldn't find a place for in a small shop they were trying to make a go of.  Apparently it failed for they brought the teddy bears back.

But I ask all who read this to consider:  are new bears really germ free either? 

Does no-one walk down the aisle and sneeze in passing? Does no child tagging along beside Mom feel compelled to grab and hug and rub a nose on soft fur?  Are the new bears really so much cleaner?

Then there is this mystifying question:  can we truly invent all these clever devices and new ways of doing things and yet not know how to clean a simple teddy bear?  Really?

I must ask.  If anyone knows please tell me, for I truly wish to know.  Does no agency accept a used but clean bear for those homeless or foster kids, those lonely elderly people or down on their luck who could use the gift of a smile?

The teddy bears want to know.  I do too.  Every bear needs a home.  And they can't live in the back seat of my car forever.