I was yesterday years old when I learned that the Hershey Bears — Hershey, PA’s ice hockey team — have been holding an annual, teddy bear-centric charity drive for nigh on 25 years. The delightful event goes down like this: fans are alerted in advance which game will be the Teddy Bear Toss and come to the venue armed with large trash bags filled with stuffed animals accordingly. Upon the Bears scoring their first goal of the game, the madness ensues, with fans gleefully hurling their fuzzy friends into the rink. Really, watch the video the team posted to their Instagram and you’ll see that nobody waits for a formal invitation; as soon as the goal is made it’s raining bears. And unicorns. And dogs and cats and frogs and a menagerie of cuddly creatures. Last year’s Teddy Bear Toss made a world record with 74,599 stuffed animals collected from the rink. This year? Hershey broke its own record at last Sunday’s game with a whopping 102,343 teddies that will be donated to charity.

The Hershey Bears are getting quite a bit of mascot support!

On Sunday, Jan. 5, the ice hockey team hosted their annual Teddy Bear Toss, which saw 100,000 bears flying into the ice rink, breaking their previous world record of 74,599 last year.

In a video shared on Instagram by the Hershey, Pa. team, numerous stuffed animals were thrown over the glass to celebrate the team’s first goal against the Providence Bruins.

“The world-famous event, held during today’s game against the Providence Bruins, sees fans throw stuffed animals onto the ice following Hershey’s first goal of the game in what is a spectacle that truly must be seen,” a press release from the Hershey Bears reads.

The club added, “Hershey forward Mike Sgarbossa scored the Teddy Bear Toss goal at 14:45 of the first period to tie the game against Providence at 1-1 and ignite the downpour.”

Piles of teddy bears were then collected on the ice rink, with many players such as right winger Pierrick Dubé and goaltender Clay Stevenson jumping on top of the stuffed animals.

The early celebration preceded the Hershey Bears’ 5-1 victory at the end of the game, which was attended by a sold-out crowd of 10,514.

The Teddy Bear Toss, which has taken place for charity since 2001, has collected a total 566,450 teddy bears.

Sunday’s stuffed animals will be donated “to over 35 local charities as part of the club’s Hershey Bears Cares program.”

The club’s numerous local and regional charities include Vista Autism Services, Schreiber Pediatric, Central PA Food Bank, Off the Streets, Gigi’s Playhouse Lancaster, Milton and Catherine Hershey Schools and Autism Society Greater Harrisburg Area.

[From People]

Who knew that the sight I deeply needed to see this week was a big, burly pro athlete launching himself with abandon into a mountain of stuffed animals. Let alone two big burly athletes doing it! It’s a life-affirming, heartwarming image. (Though a bit of a slippery slope as I quickly devolved into envy in wanting my own teddy bear mosh pit to dive into, like Daffy Duck swimming in piles of gold. Sigh…) I’m trying to wrap my head around the fact that the Teddy Bear Toss has collected a total of 566,540 stuffed animals over the 25 events they’ve held since 2001, and that 102,343 of that amount is from this year alone. I’m not the best mather, but that’s about a fifth of the total all from one game, right? At this rate, I’m envisioning the Bears being completely buried in the mounds of bears at next year’s Toss. Thank you Hershey Bears for bringing us such a charming act of charity. Man, chocolate and hundreds of thousands of teddy bears? Hershey, PA is really pulling their weight in joy output.