High School Orchestra Collecting Toys for Children at Thursday's Concert

This Thursday, you can enjoy the sounds of the season for just the price of a teddy bear.

That’s right—a teddy bear.

The Brecksville-Broadview Heights High School Orchestra is hosting its at 7 p.m. on Thursday. Director Steven Cocchiola said they try to have at least one concert each academic quarter and that, this year, the group decided to turn its winter concert into a way to give back.

The teddy bears will be donated after the concert to the Ronald McDonald House of Cleveland and the Aluminum Cans for Burned Children winter camp, according to a press release. The stuffed bears must still have a price tag attached in order to be donated.

During the concert, the audience will be able to see all of the toys that are collected. The teddy bears will be used to decorate the stage in the auditorium, where students will play familiar holiday music.

According to the press release, seating is first-come, first-served, and the doors will open at 6:30 p.m. There is wheelchair-accessible seating on the lower level, and guests may be dropped off at the back doors of the lower level, but parking is not available there.

Cocchiola said the high school has done this type of concert once before, and he helped organize similar events at his old school in Florida. He said he’d like to see it become a tradition held every four years, so that every student in the orchestra has the chance to be involved.

If anyone can’t make the concert, but would still like to donate a teddy bear, Cocchiola said they could drop the stuffed animals off at the main office in the high school, attention of the orchestra department.