LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla., Dec. 7, 2009 – Costuming Cast Members at Walt Disney World Resort collected and dressed an all-time-high number of teddy bears this holiday season, donating 414 of the one-of-a-kind stuffed toys to the Salvation Army of Central Florida. The organization gives the bears to local children who are in need of Christmas gifts.
“I know it’s for the kids, and they are happy when they get them,” says Maryla Zielinska, a garment cutter coordinator in the Creative Costuming Workroom. “It’s Christmas – time to give something to other people.”
Maryla makes several costumes every year, and she makes lots of extra shoes, bows and hats for her co-workers’ bears. “It’s fun for me,” she says. “I remember my childhood, when I made things for my dolls.”
This annual program is an opportunity for the dedicated Costuming Cast to demonstrate their skills, creativity and compassion as they make one-of-a-kind outfits for bears that warm hearts across Central Florida.
Costumer Janice Jones started the program in Costuming in 1996, when she heard about the call for community members to dress the teddy bears. She thought it sounded like a great fit for the Costuming team, a highly skilled group of seamstresses, tailors, costume assistants, cosmetologists and many others throughout the division.
