At halftime of the December 3 boys varsity basketball game, Springfield High School students covered the court for a cause. SHS alumni Bryant Koback returned for the third year in a row to emcee the school’s annual Teddy Bear Toss. In years past, the event was part of the annual toy drive for the Russell J. Ebeid Toledo Children’s Hospital.
However, in this age of COVID-19, the students searched for a new location to accept the stuffed friends. “COVID protocols do not allow the hospital to accept plush toys this year,” explained McKenna Reitz, co-organizer. The new beneficiary of the bears is Herb’s Heroes, a local not-for-profit organization started by SHS alum Dawn Jones Pratt after the death of her father. Students raised $450 and lobbed “hundreds” of bears on the basketball court at halftime, Ms. Reitz said.
