The Rough Riders, Giving Bears and Beads to those in need.

Tampa’s Rough Riders
Touch The Heart’s Of Children

Imagine…. an ill child in the hospital on Christmas eve… or a scared and injured child in the back of an ambulance… or even a child sitting on the back of a fire truck who’s house has just burned down. Some people see things as they are and can only ask ‘Why?’ A few rare people see things that are and then take action to make our world little bit better place to live.

Tampa Bay’s Rough Riders are a big Krewe with an even bigger heart for children in need of the kind of comfort that only a Teddy Bear can give. That’s why over the last 12 years the Rough Riders have spent countless hours collecting and distributing tens of thousands of teddy bears to children in desperate need of a bit of comfort.

Dubbed “Teddy Bear Runs,” this year alone the Rough Riders will make about 40 “Teddy Bear Runs” to hospitals and other organizations that deal with children in need. Current chairman Marty Mantei, and his dedicated cast of Rough Riders, will spend hundreds of hours throughout the year collecting, sorting and distributing thousands of teddy bears to children in times of need.

On a recent Wednesday evening almost 50 Rough Riders, along with additional volunteers from several other Tampa Krewes, spent an entire evening at the Rough Riders clubhouse sorting through teddy bears donated from the community through out the holiday season, 3,000 teddy bears were recently collected by the students at Lake Placid High School. There were big bears, little bears, boy bears and girl bears – and each bear was carefully sorted and categorized as they began their journey to touch the hearts of Florida’s needy and sick children.

The Rough Riders distribute these teddy bears to places such as the local Shriner’s Hospital and St. Joseph’s Hospital. On Christmas Eve many of the Rough Rider’s become “Elves With Attitudes” as they spend their Christmas Eve dressed in their Krewe uniforms and visit with children in the hospital.

The Rough Riders invite other Krewes to join them and become “Elves With Attitude” as they make their special Christmas Eve “Teddy Bear Run” in order to give thanks for their own good fortunes throughout the year. This past Christmas Eve the Rough Riders (and the other local Krewe members who participated) distributed more than 1,400 bears to our area’s children.

The Rough Riders also make “Teddy Bear Runs” to the local senior citizen centers and rehabilitation centers to share encouragement and well wishes to those in need.

When the Rough Riders travel to Key West for Fantasy Fest they take time out of their week to visit kids in the local hospital, as well as when they travel to remote parade locations in places such as Tallahassee for the annual Springtime Tallahassee Festival and even a parade held all the way out in Laredo, TX.

The original Rough Riders and “Teddy” Roosevelt would be proud of the reputation and positive influences the Rough Riders of Tampa Bay have on our community.