More than 1,000 soft toys and postcards to veterans were collected by the All-Russian action "Toy to the Veteran", dedicated to the 80th anniversary of the Great Victory, said Svetlana Radionova, head of Rosprirodnadzor. The campaign was first launched as part of the International Prize "Ecology is Everyone's Business". Adults and children from Russian regions and neighboring countries took part. They created teddy polar bears with their own hands, the symbol of the award, and wrote their best wishes to veterans on postcards. All gifts will be given to veterans living in different cities of the country.

Hundreds of Russians from Kamchatka to Crimea wished to take part in a good action and say "thank you" to the participants of the Great Patriotic War. Children from orphanages, preschoolers, schoolchildren and students, teachers and engineers, large families and pensioners sent touching letters to veterans and handmade soft toys to the Ecology is Everyone's Business award.

"First of all, I join all the warm congratulations sent by the participants of the action "Toy to the Veteran", which took place within the framework of the Ecology is Everyone's Business award. On the eve of the 80th anniversary of the Great Victory, I would like to wish the veterans long life, warmth of heart and confidence in a prosperous future. Our veterans can rightfully be proud of the younger generation. We have received hundreds of letters from all over the country. In them, adults and children poured the gratitude of their hearts, told about their veterans, shared their warmth and, together with a handmade toy, bowed low to the veterans. We have received more than a thousand fluffy bears, woven with love and respect for the winners. Each of them will be handed over to veterans, giving them a smile and faith that their feat is immortal. Dear veterans! May your hearts always remain young and full of hope. You are our pride, our history, our heroes! Your victory is in our hearts!" said Svetlana Radionova, head of Rosprirodnadzor.

Svetlana Radionova noted that the postcards, children's drawings and the toy symbol of the award – the white bear Umka – came from big cities and small villages. Residents of Kamchatka, Novosibirsk, Krasnodar, Crimea, Mordovia, Omsk and Orel actively participated. Pupils of Moscow school No. 67 and students of school No. 3 in Babaevo, Vologda region, have prepared many congratulations for the veterans. But the largest number of memorable gifts were sent by the participants of the action from the Penza region and Tatarstan. Special requests and letters came from St. Petersburg with the signature "residents of Leningrad". The campaign was enthusiastically picked up by employees of the territorial departments of Rosprirodnadzor and their families, as well as specialists from the Center for laboratory analysis and technical measurements in the Republic of Karelia. Touching letters came from the district station of young naturalists of the city of Stroitel, Belgorod region.

"Thank you, dear veterans, for our peace, for this sun, for a clear sky, and for a happy life. Your exploits will never be forgotten. Your hearts will beat with courage and honor in our hearts. Thank you for the Victory!" wrote Valeria Khripkova, a resident of the town of Stroitel.

Svetlana Radionova, head of the Environmental Protection Service, thanked the participants of the action "Toy to the Veteran" for their sincere, non-routine approach to gifts for veterans. The polar bears were crocheted and knitted, decorated with cute scarves and red hearts, paper bouquets and bright ribbons, dressed up in ties and embroidered vests, fashionable sneakers and earflaps, sewed caps with a star and even stuffed with fragrant lavender. All these creative works will be presented to veterans on the eve of the 80th anniversary of the Great Victory. The authors have put a piece of their soul into each toy.

"A toy is a symbol of joy, carefree. I would like to give veterans a little happiness and remind them that there is always a place for a smile and warmth in life," wrote first–grader Artyom Moskvin from Nikolsk, Penza region.

According to the head of Rosprirodnadzor, in their letters, the participants of the action expressed their great gratitude to the organizers for involving children in the common duty of caring for veterans. The parents noted that during the sewing of the soft toy, they told the children about the war, about the ancestors who fought, about the heroism of all those who forged Victory at the front and in the rear, about the bright memory that they keep and pass on to new generations. So, 9th grader Milana Roldugina from Lipetsk sewed three different bears for veterans and promised to remember their feat to make the world a better place.