Saturday is the day—the day the teddy bears have their picnic.
The Winkler Family Resource Centre (WFRC) hosts its annual Teddy Bear Picnic in Winkler Park June 6 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Admission is free, and stuffed animals of all kinds are welcome to come in for a friendly health check-up.
“We’ve got several tables of medical professionals coming by,” shares WFRC executive director Monica Dueck. “Doctors, nurses, dentists, physiotherapists, optometrists, pharmacists … the idea is to get kids feeling comfortable with what happens in these different offices in a really low pressure, easy way.
“They don’t have to have a check up, they don’t have to have any shots or anything—their teddy bear can take it all for them. And then they can see what happens, what it’s like to have your eyes checked or to go to the physiotherapist or go to the pharmacy, and hopefully the next time when they have to go do one of these things they’ll feel a little bit more comfortable, a little bit more familiar with the process.”
Also setting up shop in the park that day will be Genesis House, the Imagination Library, the Winkler Whips, Regional Connections, and the Winkler Fire Department, all with information about the work they do and fun activities for the kids.
There will also be inflatables, face painting, a few costumed characters walking around, and plenty of great eats on offer.
“This year we’re doing things just a little bit different. We’ve done a barbecue lunch in the past, but this year we’re actually going to do food vendors instead,” Dueck says. “We’ve got Superior Smash Burgers coming, Swirl and Twirl Cotton Candy Co. and the IceCycle.”
Any donations collected at the picnic will go to help support WFRC’s early childhood education programs, which are offered free to local families.
“This is our biggest fundraiser of the year,” says Dueck. “And it gives a chance for more people to be involved and to see what we’re all about.”
If the weather doesn’t cooperate, the festivities will move indoors at the resource centre’s space at 750 15th St. (inside the Emmanuel Mennonite Church).
