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Funky Friends Factory ‘Billion Bears’ Charity Drive

Billion Bears Charity Drive

First I’ll start with a little history on how this came about… then an explanation of how it all works!

I get so many requests for donations from charitable causes. Every request makes me feel terrible because I cannot help everyone I would like to. Lots of people think I am a large company but it is just me working from home. I run the Funky Friends Factory as a sideline because I still work a day job to cover living expenses. Having said ALL that, it still didn’t make me feel any better when I had to explain each time that I didn’t have bags of money to give to a particular cause.

After getting so many requests to use my toy patterns for charity I started to realise that there is a genuine need for something quick and simple (and cute!) to make for fund-raising charities so I have put my thinking cap on to see what I can do. The patterns are protected by international copyright so they cannot be mass-produced... What does mass-produced mean? How many toys can you make before you are mass-producing the toys?

Well, I have thought about it and personally, I think that, if you personally make each toy from start to finish yourself, you'd hardly be able to mass-produce the toys! So if you are going to be making the toys for a charitable cause, or to sell to raise money for a charitable cause, I think you can make as many as you'd like to! Many people have done this for charitable causes like Children's Hospitals and Animals Shelters.

Funky Friends Factory ‘Billion Bears’ Charity Drive I have also set up something with the Funky Friends Factory Member's FREE Teddy Pattern ecause i wanted to have an official means of using the Honey Easy Teddy Pattern for charity and sell as many Teddys as we can make!

With this in mind, I set up the Funky Friends Factory ‘Billion Bears’ Charity Drive as an official means of “giving something back” for all the joy I have got out of my Funky Friends Factory.

So... let's explain how the Funky Friends Factory ‘Billion Bears’ Charity Drive works:

(As always, there have to be some do’s and don’ts.)

What member’s CAN do with the Honey Easy Teddy Pattern:

Any Funky Friends Factory member who has legitimately bought or received a Honey Easy Teddy Pattern for free with their FIRST PURCHASE, may use their Honey Easy Teddy pattern to make as many Teddy Bears as they can for any official charity of their choice as long as:

They let me know how many bears they are contributing to our ‘Billion Bears’ Charity Drive. (Our aim is to get to one billion, no time limit on this!)
With time, I would like to set up a ‘Billion Bears’ Charity Gallery, so members, please send in photos of your Charity Bears via email or post.

What member’s CAN’T do with the Honey Easy Teddy Pattern:

Members cannot reproduce, distribute or sell the pattern itself, even to raise funds for a legitimate charity.
Members cannot have the toys manufactured (mass-produced).

Please refer to the copyright information below for details:

The Funky Friends patterns, concepts and logo are protected by international copyright protection:
Whilst it is acceptable to make these toys for personal use, gifts, it is unacceptable to mass-produce the completed toys, to reproduce the patterns or to copy the ideas.
Copyright © 2001 Funky Friends Factory.
®© 070630 Copyright Protection Services International.

Just as an aside - If you would like to sell the toys to make some money yourself...

... the same concept applies, you cannot mass-produce the toys or have them manufactured. So whatever you are able to physically make yourself, from start to finish, would not be considered mass-production! : ) All I would ask, on a personal level, is if you could sell them with a little tag saying that you have produced them with permission from a Funky Friends Factory pattern and, if you could put my website address www.funkyfriendsfactory.com on it as well, I think it would be a win-win situation for both of us! As a 'one-man-band' it would really help me if you could help 'spread the word' about my pattern website in this way! Thank you, in advance!

Back to the Billion Bears Charity Drive...

I feel this is a fantastic way for the Funky Friends Factory Members to have the opportunity to help out the charity/ charities of THEIR choice, and that are closest to their hearts. On a personal level, when a non-member buys a Honey Easy Teddy Pattern, I will be able to donate the money from these sales to a charity of MY choosing. This way, we can help a diverse range of very worthy causes, I can ‘give something back’ and still have a viable Soft Toy Pattern website!

I have set up the ‘Billion Bears Charity Drive’ with the best possible intentions, (it is NOT an official registered charity and does not accept donations.) Hopefully it will be used to help contribute lots of cuddly Teddy Bears to a lot of worthy causes. Lets get those ‘Billion Bears’ pictures rolling in!

If you'd like to make some bears to contribute to our quest to reach "a Billion Bears" please contact me via out contact page.

I wish you well with your charitable endeavours…

Pauline

Your Beary Heartfelt contributions:

Our first contrution:

Dear Pauline,
Thank you for your reply. What a lovely idea. I would be delighted to be included in this program. I had planned to make a few of these bears, to give to the Kim Walters Choices Program to sell on their fundraising stall, or to use as raffles or prizes at their fundraisers. At this stage I cannot tell how many bears I would like to make but will when I get organized!
Regards Lorraine, AUSTRALIA
Bears for Shepparton Wlidlife Shelter

Hi, Pauline,
I will be happy to join in the billion bear charity drive. I run the Shepparton Wildlife Shelter in North east Victoria, and will let you know how many i make. I would be only making a few at a time and making more once they were sold.
Many Thanks
Katherine