Business owners bring joy to kindergarteners with free teddy bears
By WLOS Staff
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ASHEVILLE, North Carolina (WLOS) — The owners of a local pawn shop in Asheville spread joy to children in the community on Tuesday with a free teddy bear giveaway.
Tonia and Alan Sheppard, the owners of Alan’s Jewelry and Pawn, visited Johnston Elementary School to gift each kindergarten student a teddy bear.
The Sheppards provided teddy bear T-shirts and fabric markers, allowing the children to dress and decorate their bears.
This initiative encourages students to read to their bears and engage in math lessons. Each child also received a smaller bear to take home for homework assistance with their parents.
“You’ve got to remember where you came from, and it doesn’t take a lot to do it – just to be part of the community and to see children being children is probably the best part,” Alan Sheppard said.
The Sheppards distributed 45 bears on Tuesday morning, continuing a tradition they have maintained for years with Johnston Elementary School.
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