Numerous Northern Michigan University student-athletes smile amongst a few of the 486 teddy bears and stuffed animals collected during The Teddy Bear Toss held on Dec. 12, 2018, during a Wildcats hockey game at the Berry Events Center. (Photo courtesy NMU)

MARQUETTE — The Mining Journal will join Northern Michigan University and an athlete’s group there to conduct the annual Teddy Bear Toss in a pandemic-minded way on Saturday afternoon.

The Journal’s Cheer Club, NMU and the university’s Student-Athlete Advisory Committee will hold the toy collection from 1 to 4 p.m. that day.

Wildcat student-athletes and coaches will participate in the collection of stuffed animals in a socially distanced, drive-through event with the toys to be donated to the Salvation Army and St. Vincent de Paul as part of those groups’ Christmas Toy Giveaway Program.

Area residents are encouraged to wrap bears and other stuffed animals in plastic bags and toss them from their vehicles as they drive past the front entrance of the Berry Events Center, the side that faces Fair Avenue.

Information compiled by Journal Sports Editor Steve Brownlee. His email address is sbrownlee@miningjournal.net.