Rocky Mountain News
Dahlia Weinstein: Teddy bears lend a paw
April 7, 2004
A caveful of cute and cuddly brown bears brought in big bucks at the third annual “Bear To Make a Difference” celebrity teddy-bear auction to benefit the Matthew Shepard Foundation.
The foundation is the national organization founded by Dennis and Judy Shepard in memory of their 21-year-old son, Matthew, who was murdered in an anti-gay hate crime in Laramie.
Judy, the foundation’s executive director, was thrilled with the success of this year’s fete at the Westin Tabor Center, which netted more than $25,000 for the organization.
Most of the funds from the sale of celebrity bears will be used to launch the Diversity Education Project, which is intended to help educators convey the concept of respect for everyone.
A portion of proceeds also will be used to complete the foundation’s national youth outreach and resource project.
Generous corporate support was provided by companies such as Coors Brewing Co. and Verizon Wireless. Verizon bought 100 tickets for Denver-area youths, ages 16 and over, to attend the gala.
The highlight of the annual event is bidding on the superstar bears, which are designed and autographed by celebrities and other VIPs who support the foundation.
Elton John’s autographed “Diva” bear brought in $2,000, Bette Midler’s “Delores Merbear” (based on her current stage show Kiss My Brass) raised $1,500, and All My Children’s “BAM Bear,” which celebrates the relationship between the show’s lesbian characters, Bianca and Maggie, brought in a whopping $3,000.
Emcee Wes Culwell, from Bravo’s hit reality-television series Boy Meets Boy, made “Sailor,” which brought in $1,600.
Culwell is using his celebrity status to promote human-and gay- rights causes such as the Matthew Shepard Foundation, and the Human Rights Campaign and is spreading the word of diversity by speaking at colleges and nonprofit and corporate events.
“Wes is actively preventing violence and hate by promoting education and understanding,” said Judy Shepard. “He is a natural leader with a fresh, new voice.”
Other celebrity bears on the auction block were created by Peter Paige and Scott Lowell, from Showtime’s Queer as Folk; actor Harvey Fierstein; author Lesléa Newman; and furniture designer Mitchell Gold, who made a custom bear and a beautiful child-size designer chair for the auction.
The evening also included performances by singer and songwriter Randi Driscoll, whose single What Matters has raised more than $40,000 for the foundation, and Grammy Award-winning artist Thelma Houston.
Also on display was a teddy-bear table featuring three bears representing Matthew and his friends Zander Crump and Timothy Galles. Galles wrote Small Bear, Big Dreams, a book about the three boys’ longtime friendship, which will be used as part of the foundation’s tolerance-teaching tools.
If you want to support the foundation but couldn’t attend the Bear To Make a Difference fete, an ongoing fund-raising auction on eBay will feature bears made by celebrities such as The Today Show’s Katie Couric, Tipper Gore, and the BBC’s Absolutely Fabulous fashion femmes fatales Edina (Jennifer Saunders) and Patsy (Joanna Lumley).
For more information about the Matthew Shepard Foundation and how to bid in future auctions, call 1-307-237-6167 visit the Web site www.matthewshepard.org.
