This winter, bears came out of hibernation for one reason: tea time.

Teddy bears from pocket-sized to life-sized dominated the entire Country Club of New Bedford for the Dartmouth YMCA’s annual Teddy Bear Tea.

An event that’s been especially popular with moms and daughters, attendees enjoyed an elegant pre-Valentine’s Day meal of tea and finger sandwiches (lobster for the parents, peanut butter and jelly for the children), face-painting, crafts and coloring, a raffle with locally donated prizes and photos with a giant teddy bear. There was also a donation bin for teddy bears to be donated to the Southcoast children’s charities.

Hosted at the Country Club of New Bedford, the YMCA boasted a great turnout with nearly 100 people.

Dartmouth YMCA Executive Director Mikey Mahoney was initially unsure about Dartmouth’s Teddy Tea tradition. However, to his delight, it was a great success. Though he’s worked with YMCAs across the South Coast, this tradition was new for him.

“Somebody says ‘You’re going to fill a room with teddy bears and people are going to come,’ you think ‘That’s different.’ But now you see it come to fruition through the help of not only staff but our great volunteers and board members who really lead the charge,” he said. “Everybody has a great time.”

Money raised at the event will be put toward the YMCA Scholarship fund which goes to providing underprivileged children in the Dartmouth area with YMCA programs and memberships. In 2015, the Dartmouth branch raised $80,000 while the South Coast YMCAs raised a combined $700,000.

As for the teddy bear tea, the goal was to reach $3,000, said Mahoney.

YMCA Board Member Karen Costa has been with the Dartmouth YMCA since the very first teddy bear tea five or six years ago.

“The first teddy bear tea we did with my own china,” Costa said.

But why teddy bears?

According to Costa, the YMCA, formerly the location of the Children’s Museum, was left with the museum’s collection of teddy bears donated by a local woman.

“The [former] director was like ‘What are we going to do with all these bears?’ and we said ‘Let’s have a teddy bear tea,’” Costa said.

Over the years, the tea party has jumped in popularity. The event provides families with a fun opportunity to get dressed up for an afternoon of food and fun. The YMCA works hard to provide fun winter events to the community to fill in the snow days.

With 10 more fundraisers planned for the rest of the year, Mahoney hopes the Teddy Tea sets them in the right direction for their year goal of $90,000.