Wednesday is the last opportunity for kids and families to participate in the Glazer Family Foundation's "Name the Bears" Sweepstakes and get a chance to win a special Buccaneers VIP experience.
The sweepstakes, which began June 24 on the Foundation’s website, invites parents to submit potential names created by their children for the Foundation's familiar teddy bears. Through the long-running "Cheering You On!" program, the Glazer Family Foundation gives the soon-to-be-named teddy bears to hospitalized children in the Central Florida area.
The program, initially launched in 1999, has helped lift the spirits of young patients for more than a decade by providing a Buccaneers teddy bear to every child admitted to one of eight hospitals. In 2012, the Foundation expects to pass the half-million mark in donated bears, which are meant to provide a measure of reassurance and security at a difficult time.
The teddy bears are male and female, the latter clad in a pink Buccaneers cheerleader dress with a pink bow on its head, the former in a black-and-red Buccaneers outfit. Name suggestions for both bears will be accepted through August 31, and Foundation representatives will then pick the top five options.
On September 5, the five final options for each bear will be revealed on the Glazer Family Foundation’s Facebook page. Visitors will then be urged to visit the Foundation website to vote on their favorite choices.
At the end of the process, a name will be chosen for each bear and 10 lucky participants will be chosen to receive a special Buccaneer VIP experience. Sweepstakes entrants do NOT have to submit one of the five name finalists or vote for the eventual selections in order to win. Rather, five entrants will be chosen at random from among all individuals who submit a name suggestion, and another five will be chosen at random from among all individuals who vote in the final poll.
Each selected participant will receive a VIP experience that consists of the following:
- Four tickets to a 2011 Buccaneers home game;
- A parking pass to the same game;
- A VIP pregame on-field photo;
- A meet-and-greet with the Buccaneers Cheerleaders.
To submit a name for either bear, and to learn more about the sweepstakes, please visit GlazerFamilyFoundation.org.
