Hallmark and Bears Care turned a holiday movie into a fundraiser, auctioning two featured walk-on roles in Holiday Touchdown: A Bears Love Story and bringing the winners to Halas Hall for filming on July 17. Carrie May-Borich and Phillip Salamone won the experience over the summer, then spent the day on set with the full cast, Ben Johnson and Cole Kmet.
The auction was built around a rare promise: a chance to appear inside the film while sending the proceeds directly to Bears Care, the Chicago Bears' charitable arm. The money is meant to support Chicagoland programs for people who are less fortunate, battling cancer or needing a helping hand to reach their full potential.
For May-Borich, the day came with a surprise she did not see coming. She brought her best friend, Sheri Pickens, as her plus-one and said she had no idea what to expect before calling it a really good surprise. Salamone brought his father, Phil, and said spending the day with him at Halas Hall filming the Hallmark movie was truly a blessing.
The scene they filmed was designed to mirror the Bears Care Gala, the annual event the Bears typically host at Soldier Field, and the winners started around noon before heading to trailers for hair and makeup. They then filmed the opening stretch of the gala sequence, where attendees file in, interact with Staley Da Bear and mingle among themselves.
What the auction ultimately raised was not disclosed, and the on-screen roles for the winners were kept broad rather than spelled out in advance. Even so, the setup made the point plainly enough: Hallmark and Bears Care used the movie to turn a fan fantasy into a community fundraiser, and the next thing readers know is that the film's charity scene now carries the faces of two people who won their way into it.
