Cpl Smiles

Gotta love this:

It's not often that a bear gets recruited by the military.

But Cpl. Smiles managed to do just that -- he has recently retired from a tour of duty that took him to Trenton and Ottawa and saw him flying a Hercules, sitting in on high-level meetings of the air force and very nearly escorting the governor general to Europe.

And in the process, he has managed to raise $1,300 for charity just by doling out hugs.



...

McLean admits it was pretty funny to see the oversized stuffed animal being carried about by high ranking officers. "He breaks the ice, that's for sure," he laughs.

The toy was even penned in as Cpl. Smiles on the invitation list to a retirement dinner for a chief warrant officer and despite his lowly rank, had a place of honour at the head table.

Within no time, he had been squeezed 100 times -- by children and officers alike -- and had raised $650 in donations, an amount that will be doubled by DTS Output, the company Lopes works for.

She's thrilled that Cpl. Smiles -- her sixth fund-raising bear since she began -- was such a hit.

There are plans underway for the corporal to retire to CFB Gagetown with a military single mom whose little girl is ill. The $1,300 raised by the bear will go to the child.

By the way, the "McLean" quoted in the article who spearheaded this effort should be familiar to readers of The Torch: he's the same Sgt Andrew McLean who is the driving force behind the Soldier On programme.

Once again, BZ Sergeant!