Tyler Hope CEO Kirk Salvador said the company will donate 10 Tyler Hope Bears — plush bears made to discreetly store adult toys — to 10 radio stations across the country for listener raffles. All proceeds made must be donated to the stations' favorite local or national breast cancer charities.
"One of the reasons I'm doing this is personal experience with breast cancer in my family," Salvador told XBIZ. "I've seen dramatic effects of how devastating breast cancer can be to a family but also how much hope research and awareness can bring."
He said that the final 10 radio stations will be announced Oct. 15, and bears will be shipped to them the next day.
For the remainder of the month, 5 percent of all Tyler Hope Bear sales generated from each radio station's market purchased through TylerHope.com will be donated to each station's favorite breast cancer awareness charity.
Salvador also said that an additional Tyler Hope Bear will be donated to any of the 10 radio stations whose adult shop affiliates sell the bears, which will be available to them for $35 wholesale.
Salvador, who took over Tyler Hope in late spring, said he wanted to find a way to combine his business with his passion for charity work. In July he donated 200 Tyler Hope Bears for a domestic abuse charity function at the Playboy Mansion.
"These issues are very important to me," Salvador said. "We're looking for any possible way of optimizing our payout and our donations to breast cancer research and domestic violence issues."
In addition to taking part in charity events, Salvador all year has donated 5 percent of each Tyler Hope Bear to battered women's shelters and breast cancer charities.
For more information about Tyler Hope, email Salvador at ksalvador@tylerhope.com.