Huggable Heroes

Build A Bear Workshop has regognizd young leaders making a difference in a positive manner in their communities and the world for the past 8 years. Once again in 2011 ten Huggable Heroes between the ages of eight and 18 from the U.S. and Canada will be selected and recognized by being honored for their good deeds. As a reward each of the ten Huggable Heroes wil receive a prize worth $10,000 ($7,500 in the form of an educational scholarship and $2,500 from the Build A Bear Workshop Foundation to be donated to charity of the Huggable hero's choice. Each of them will also travel to St. Louis Missouri the home of the Build A Bear Workshop with a guardian where they will meet each other, be honored for their good deeds and participate in seminars and community service project as well as be featured in the 2012 Build-A-Bear Workshop Huggable Heroes Calendar.


Do you know an outstanding youth between the ages of 8 and 18 that would fit the category of Huggable hero? If you do then you will want to enter them and thier story to the Build A Bear Contest at http://www.lovehugssmiles.com/huggableHeroes.aspx or by picking up an entry form at Build-A-Bear Workshop stores in the United States and Canada. Entries are being accepted through February 28, 2010

A recent survey showed that the youth of today are taking more of an interest in the needs of their communities than in the past. The Build A Bear workshop took a poll that showed that 98 % of 400 young people responding said it is important to help each other. This concept is taught through out childhood and the hope behind it is that when they are older they will continue to fill this special goal of helping others. Build A Bear and the Huggable Heroes program allows young people to be recognized for their deeds and encourages others to follow in their footsteps.

Entries are accepted through February 28. After that date entries will be narrowed down to 75 semi finalists in March and to 25 finalists by the end of April. Eventually there will be 10 new Huggable Heroes (eight from the U.S. and Puerto Rico and two from Canada) The 10 new Huggable Hero's will join the ranks of more than 100 other amazing youth who were recognized in the previous seven years.







“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.”

Thousands of amazing stories have been shared with the Build A Bear Workshop. Stories where young people do things both big and small to help improve the lives of others. Some of the past Huggable Heroes and their stories include:

Charles R. from Castleton, New York, who started Literacy Education for All People, a multi-year 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.



Alaina P. from Lake Country, British Columbia, who 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.



And Melissa M. from Mililani, Hawaii, United States, who 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. Melissa has collected more than $121,000 in funds and grants which she has donated to the Hawaii Chapter of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.



About Build-A-Bear Workshop, Inc.

Build-A-Bear Workshop, Inc. is the only global company that offers an interactive make-your-own stuffed animal retail-entertainment experience. The company currently operates more than 400 Build-A-Bear Workshop stores worldwide, including company-owned stores in the United States, Puerto Rico, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Ireland and franchise stores in Europe, Asia, Australia, Africa, the Middle East, and Mexico. Founded in St. Louis in 1997, Build-A-Bear Workshop is the leader in interactive retail. Brands include make-your-own Major League Baseball® mascot in-stadium locations, and Build-A-Dino® stores. Build-A-Bear Workshop extends its in-store interactive experience online with its award winning virtual world Web site at www.buildabearville.com. Build-A-Bear Workshop (NYSE: BBW) posted total revenue of $394.4 million in fiscal 2009. For more information, call 888.560.BEAR (2327) or visit the company's award-winning Web site at http://www.buildabear.com/