Celebrate 20 "Magical" Years of Penny Bears Saturday, August 1, 2015 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

On Saturday, August 1, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., at 6 Elmwood Road in Marblehead, you are invited to join the celebration of 20 “magical” years of the all-volunteer, non-profit Penny Bear Company’s mission to provide messages of love, hope, healing and comfort through the heart-warming, sweater-wearing, cuddly Penny Bears that symbolize those messages.

The celebration will include activities, entertainment, giveaways, and teddy bear themed light refreshments as well as information tables hosted by representatives of the many organizations The Penny Bear Company has benefited and supported as part of its mission including Circle of Friends, Friends Forever, Hospice, The Parkinson’s Support Group, Rotary Club of Marblehead Harbor, Threshold Singers and more.

In 1995, Penny Wigglesworth and a group of friends founded The Penny Bear Company. After Wigglesworth completed a 10-week volunteer training program with a local Hospice organization, she soon met 16-year-old Seth Bailey who had been diagnosed with leukemia when he was three, underwent a bone marrow transplant when he was seven, and needed a double-lung transplant to survive. Wigglesworth gave Seth a teddy bear to comfort him and keep him company. The Penny Bear Company grew out of Seth’s response to Wigglesworth’s gift and his search for a purpose in life and a way to help others.

Penny Bears are garbed in sweaters that originally had a shiny penny lovingly placed in each sweater’s pocket. “Some people feel that finding a penny means they will have good luck, or that by making a wish and tossing a penny into a fountain or wishing well, their special wish will come true. Others read the words on the penny and think about how important the words ‘In God We Trust’ are in their lives,” Wigglesworth says. Today, a rainbow heart has replaced the penny to symbolize the Penny Bear’s reassurance that no one needs to feel alone during difficult times.

Wigglesworth notes that Penny Bears begin life as ordinary bears and are hugged into life by caring volunteers. In 20 years, she and her friends have generously bestowed thousands of Penny Bears across the United States and abroad in countries that include Afghanistan and Haiti. “Something magical happens when people believe they can make our world a happier, kinder, more compassionate place in which to live,” she says.

“Although Seth is no longer with us, I believe that Seth and all the wonderful people who have come into my life have done so that, together, we can provide positive encouragement wherever it is needed in the world,” Wigglesworth says.

Wigglesworth invites all to share in the magic and to celebrate on August 1. For more information about Penny Bears, visit www.pennybear.org, watch a segment on MHTV’s Headliner News airing through noon on Friday, July 31, and look for a story in The Marblehead Reporter’s July 30 edition.