Welcome to the Martha’s Vineyard Teddy Bear Suite Fundraiser. We enjoyed a great 13th year in 2023 of magical holiday traditions, where family memories are made, and the money raised goes to help the Martha’s Vineyard Boys & Girls Club.
For the first time in three years, we are returned to an in-person, hotel-based Teddy Bear Suite experience during the Christmas in Edgartown weekend. We had a great new hosting partner with the Faraway Martha’s Vineyard and the newly renovated Kelley House in downtown Edgartown Village.
Our annual holiday fundraiser has both a magical, real-world, home in Edgartown on Martha’s Vineyard, as well as its virtual, online presence here on the website and social media.
The Magical Teddy Bear Suite Moves To A New Indoor Home For 2023 At The Faraway Martha’s Vineyard Kelley House
After starting off at the Harbor View Hotel, the Martha’s Vineyard Teddy Bear Suite moved to some of the Point B spaces in downtown Edgartown for a few years, and even outdoors during the pandemic at Nevin Square, where the outdoor Teddy Bear Suite spread across the entire courtyard behind the Point B offices. Visitors were surprised and delighted by the multi-bear-home event.
But we were thrilled to move back inside and in-person for 2023. Holiday memories and family photos were back in full swing in our beary festively decorated Teddy Bear Suite at the Faraway Martha’s Vineyard! We greeted hundreds of visitors, shot thousands of family photos, and in general, just really enjoyed the holiday magic!
Martha’s Vineyard Teddy Bear Suite Has Raised Over $423,000 For The MV Boys & Girls Club
The 2023 fundraising drive got off to an incredible start on Giving Tuesday, with generous supporters and a match from Point B bringing the donation total to nearly $30,000 in one day! That is the biggest Giving Tuesday Teddy Bear Suite fundraising launch we’ve ever had in the 13 years since we started.
The annual holiday event has now raised more than $423,000 to date for the Martha’s Vineyard Boys & Girls Club and its amazing After School programs that serve hundreds of elementary school-aged children and their families. The fundraiser now raises enough money each year to fund the vital, core food program that is helping solve food security and childhood hunger on the Vineyard. Sadly a very real, and large issue.
Beyond The School Bell (previously known as H2K) has been a tremendous success. The program provides free meals, snacks, and meals-to-go for its members. On average, the Club is now serving about 100 children a day. Over the course of the year, they are serving more than 60,000 prepared meals and snacks. The Club is now rescuing and redistributing about half a ton of food surplus every week from island grocers, markets, and farms.
This is a proactive program and a comprehensive approach that is working and making a real difference on Martha’s Vineyard. We are proud to have supported this vital food program from its launch. As the need has become bigger, the Club continues to expand its safety net of programming. It is now providing packaged family meals to go, and has added the Blue Door Pantry which every month provides dozens of members and their families with access to perishable and non-perishable food, hygiene products, cleaning products, and essential wearables. The safety net starts with food but extends well beyond that.
#MVTEDDYBEARSUITE Social Media Hashtag
Our popular social media feed spotlight is back again this year. Our Social Media Photo Feed automatically pulls all photos from Facebook and Instagram accounts and feeds, that use our #mvteddybearsuite hashtag. This figures prominently into the Martha’s Vineyard Teddy Bear Suite and each year hundreds of people use it for everything Teddy Bear Suite-related.
So, whether you join in the fun of sharing photos or videos from the new Teddy Bear Suite or follow us for fundraising updates, this is our prime social media way to go.
What Is The Teddy Bear Suite
Now entering our 14th enchanting year (in 2024), the Martha’s Vineyard Teddy Bear Suite, created and sponsored by Point B | Compass and Point B Realty Vacation Rentals, is a magical holiday tradition where family memories are made, and all the money raised goes to help the Martha’s Vineyard Boys And Girls Club and their vital Beyond The School Bell after-school food security and safety net programs that are used by hundreds of families across the Island every week. Our video tells the story and there is much more detail here