The holiday season may be behind us, but here at BEARPAW, we’re still caught up in the excitement over our Spread the Love, Share the Comfort Holiday Campaign. The response has been so heart-warming that we thought we’d share some stories with our readers!

Jessica Kirby (who nominated the Preston family, pictured), told us, “The holidays are about giving back, and delivering the BEARPAW gift package to the Preston family completely warmed my heart. This inspiring family is very special and seeing the joy on their faces was amazing. As predicted, Elizabeth ‘paid it forward’ and helped another struggling family with some of the gifts she received, so they could also have a Merry Christmas.” 

Melba Culpepper and all of our friends at the Boys & Girls Club of Hollywood were so excited about the Lucas family winning that they made this amazing video:

Tynnia and Kennif “couldn’t stop smiling,” relayed Melba: “They have been wearing joy on their faces since we saw them. It just makes us so proud to be a part of this BEARPAW holiday campaign.”

Daisy Conway was stunned when she heard her family won: “Renee (who nominated the Conway family) informed me of this incredible development and I am speechless! I can’t believe it is real and am simply very honored.  So… thank you, BEARPAW!!  How does a person say thank you for such an amazing thing?”

Misty Terrell nominated the Nyhus family. When she heard they had won, she sent us this note: “Since I’ve gotten off the phone with you, I can’t seem to wipe the permanent smile from my face! My heart is about to EXPLODE with joy. It’s just so wonderful to hear that BEARPAW recognizes families like the Nyhus family and everything they SACRIFICED for their vision of a better world.  THANK YOU BEARPAW!”

When Rebecca gave Joy Zwolak her gifts at IHOP, Joy was overwhelmed. “I can’t believe this happened for me,” she said.

Rebecca has shared these two short videos of Joy receiving her BEARPAW boots:

So many of you have asked us what the inspiration behind the Spread the Love, Share the Comfort campaign was, and Randy McKinley, VP of Marketing for BEARPAW said it best:

During the holidays….you really get that “joy” of giving. The smile that you can bring to someone’s face when you make them happy – it doesn’t have to be something extravagant…simple works. It’s just the fact that you can make someone happy by giving. As a company, our entire team looks for things we can do to help those that are less fortunate…we’re lucky, we’re in a good place. We’ve worked hard to get where we’re at…. but that’s not the case for everyone. People hit roadblocks…things that come up unexpectedly. Whether it’s getting laid off from a company you’ve worked for for years, or coming home from serving our country and not being able to find a job. It happens. We realize that and if we can do something to help out, it feels good.

Stay tuned, because Spread the Love, Share the Comfort is coming back this year starting during the Thanksgiving 2012 holiday and running through Christmas. All families deserve to have a great holiday season, and BEARPAW will lead the way. We have lots of love – and comfort – to give.