Big teds, little teds, vintage teds and trauma teds gathered with their loving owners at the Boolarra multi-purpose room on Monday to help kids in tough times.
About a dozen youngsters turned up with bears in arms for a Boolarra Red Cross teddy bears’ picnic to mark the first day of school holiday fun.
Local children played games, won prizes and ate some tasty treats with their fuzzy friends to help raise money for the Red Cross trauma teddy program.
Boolarra Red Cross treasurer Glenys Morgan said trauma teddies were handed out by emergency service workers on the scene where kids need to hug a teddy.
Volunteers have hand-knitted thousands of teddies since the program began in 1990 and have since been distributed by firefighters, police and paramedics to help calm kids in emergencies.
“Lately many little teddies have been sent to Syria for the kids living hand-to-mouth,” Ms Morgan said.
“All the money raised from today will go towards the trauma teddy program to post them overseas and cover the costs of the materials to make them.”
Ms Morgan said anyone could volunteer to knit a trauma teddy and they did not need to be a member of the Red Cross.
Trauma teddy patterns are available on the Red Cross website.
