The Beaverton Chapter of Binky Patrol has a delivery team. Our main delivery team is one man – the Teddy Bear Phantom. He prefers to stay anonymous. His selfless work is far reaching and recently TigardLife caught up with him to hear his story – they also respectfully omitted his name. He has been delivering for the Beaverton chapter for over 10 years. We met during the huge Disney volunteer drive, since he and his family are HUGE Disney superfans. Once he and his wife found us, they were so excited to continue to help. He’s been a regular visitor to Binky Patrol HQ in Beaverton ever since. He helps us get blankets to Ronald McDonald House (3 locations), Good Neighbor, Caring Closet, Bethlehem House and many more! Here’s a portion of that story by Holly Goodman.
Like all superheroes, Tigard’s own Teddy Bear Phantom holds his identity close to his chest.
By day, he’s a mild-mannered 86-year-old, not quite retired business owner. By night and weekends (and sometimes by day), he’s at the ready, stuffed animals in hand, to help children through some of their roughest moments – though most never meet The Phantom. Though we, here at Tigard Life, spoke with the Phantom’s mild-mannered alter-ego, we’re sworn to secrecy.
“If you’re going to talk about the Phantom, don’t talk about me. That’s the purpose of the Phantom,” he said. “The Teddy Bear Phantom gives because he or she stands for giving without caring for a reward.” And, give he does.
The day we spoke, he had recently purchased 500 stuffed animals from Kohl’s, where he buys frequently. For more than two decades, The Phantom has reached deep into his own pockets to buy tens of thousands of stuffed toys and pass them on to helper non-profits wherever he goes. Ronald McDonald House, Bethlehem House of Bread, The Caring Closet, St. Anthony’s Catholic Church – the Phantom works quietly, donating by the hundreds to organizations that see children through their roughest moments.
We caught up with him on a recent afternoon when an in-the-know group of retired educators were honoring the man behind the metaphorical mask for decades of his generosity and kind deeds.
In November, the local Oregon Retired Educators Unit #34 named him its Inspirational Person of the Year during its anniversary celebration and silent auction. “He does everything behind the scenes. I think he truly is an inspiration,” said the woman who nominated him, Paula Levine.
You can read the full story here on our site in PDF or on the TigardLife site here.
