Teddy bears rained onto the court at Hawkins Arena during Mercer volleyball's game against Samford University on Oct. 27. Stuffed animals of all shapes and sizes covered the court, ready to be collected for children at Beverly Knight Olson Children's Hospital in Macon.
Mercer’s women’s volleyball, in collaboration with MU Miracle, participated in the Southern Conference’s Stuff It Cancer Teddy Bear Toss fundraising initiative in which schools collect stuffed animals and donations for local children’s hospitals.
127 were confirmed to be in attendance at the game on Oct. 27, where several attendees donated bears and rained them on the court in between sets two and three of the 3-2 win against Samford.
"I never know how things like that are gonna shake out, because volleyball is just under supported," Alicia Roberts, an assistant coach for Mercer volleyball, said. “So, it was hard to see, but then everyone came out and everyone threw.”
The initiative, which began in 2023, was inspired by the experience of Wofford College’s volleyball coach, Jacki Roos, whose son Loren underwent treatment for osteosarcoma, a rare bone cancer. Upon witnessing how small comforts such as stuffed animals helped her son, Roos partnered with the Southern Conference and the coaches in the league to launch Stuff It to Cancer.
"The idea is a SoCon-wide contest, so all the SoCon schools are competing to see who can raise the most money and bears for their local children's hospitals," said Alayna McElroy '28, external vice president of MU Miracle.
The first annual Stuff It to Cancer event featured each Southern Conference school donating collected blankets and stuffed animals in their team colors to the Bi-Lo Children’s Cancer Center at Prisma Health in Greenville, S.C.
This year, Mercer donated the collected teddy bears and stuffed animals for Beverly Knight Olson Children's Hospital at Atrium Health, about a mile from Mercer's campus.
Paula Santa Maria, athletics director for MU Miracle, explained the difficulty in fundraising at this time in the school year. "Because Mercer has homecoming going on as well, it's hard to get people in our organization who are also participating in homecoming,” said Santa Maria, “there were three events going on tonight, and if you aren't doing that, you're cramming for any midterms that are still left to be taken.”
Despite the anticipated difficulties, the organizers were pleased with the overall turnout and emphasized that commitment to these causes are important at all times. “Our biggest focus is making sure that these kids feel honored and that we’re supporting them even from here,” said Roberts.
Paula Santa Maria '28, athletics director of MU Miracle, explained how the collaboration with the women’s volleyball team developed.
"The volleyball team reached out to me, and were wondering if we wanted to partner with them as MU Miracle to raise money together," said Santa Maria. MU Miracle has a long history with the hospital, and jumped at the opportunity to continue their partnership with a collaboration, she said.
McElroy explained that the organization raised over $41,000 last year for the children's hospital alone through all of their fundraising combined. "Anytime we're making any money, we don't see any of it. It goes straight to the kids,” she said.
