Celebrate Our Troops and Reward Kids for Extraordinary Acts of Service with the Huggable Heroes Program at Build-A-Bear Workshop

I have fond memories of Build-A-Bear when my children were little guys. They loved being able to build their own stuffed animal, choose the outfit and name it whatever name they wanted. It was a memorable experience (one for them and for me)!

Build-A-Bear Workshop is as awesome as ever, this time with a fabulous program called Huggable Heroes. Throughout June, Build-A-Bear is celebrating heroes with its 11^th annual search for Huggable Heroes to recognize and reward charitable-minded youths who make the world a better place. Build-A-Bear is also teaming up with the USO to celebrate and give thanks for the service of America’s troops and their families.

Through the Huggable Heroes program, Build-A-Bear recognizes and rewards kids for extraordinary acts of service. Through June 12^th, you can nominate a young person age 8 through 18 by visiting the Build-A-Bear site or stores nationwide. Nominations for the 2014 Huggable Heroes program will be narrowed down to 50 finalists. Ten winners will each receive a $5,000 scholarship and a $2,500 donation to a designated charity of their choice.

Did you know, that to date, more than 12,000 kids have participated in the Build-A-Bear Workshop Huggable Heroes program? Did you also know that the program has awarded over $1 million to socially conscious young people? The 2014 Huggable Heroes will join the ranks of over 100 young social entrepreneurs who have collectively recruited thousands of volunteers, gathered over 300 million items and raised more than $10 million for their causes. That is pretty awesome!!!

Build-A-Bear Workshop is also supporting the USO to celebrate the service of America’s military heroes. Through the “Every Moment Counts” campaign, the USO creates moments that matter for our troops and their families. To support this effort, Build-A-Bear Workshop Guests can share a message of thanks on social media platforms with “#babwUSOthanks.” For each share, Build-A-Bear Workshop will donate one dollar to the USO, up to $50,000. Guests can even make monetary donations to support the USO at Build-A-Bear Workshop stores nationwide when they checkout through June 30^th.

Who would you recognize in the Huggable Heroes Program?  Have you tweeted out for the “Every Moment Counts” Campaign to help support our troops and their families?

I participated in this program on behalf of Build-A-Bear Workshop and The Motherhood.  All opinions expressed in this post are 100% mine.