Kids Parents and Teachers! Heard About Toy Bank?

Life is a wonderful gift of nature and we can realize it through sharing and giving. God the Almighty can be witnessed in the smiles of the innocent faces”””quote from toybank.org[toybank’s website] Started in 2004 by three girls in their 20s, and who had completed college education, Toybank is an NGO, with a vision of reaching out to children through fun and play using toys. It began in Mumbai. Headed by Shweta Chari, who got the idea of toybank while volunteering at university with an organization working with street children. One day, Shweta chatted with some street kids and discovered she had a lovely time. So she got the idea of sharing toys with such kids. She shared the idea with some friends, and in a month they had collected 1000 toys! She gave up her career to dedicate herself to Toybank fulltime.
Taking toys from those who can give and distributing them to the ones in need”¦. children who have no toys””who play with rubber tyres or stones and bring joy to their lives is the concept of Toybank.
The toy shapes the psyche of the children, so utmost care is taken to give only unbiased and morally correct toys to children. 1.Toys that promote violence such as, guns, swords and similar such toys are not accepted by Toybank
2. Toys in good condition are a must
3. Barbie dolls are also not accepted as Toybank does not believe in discrimination.
The toys that are collected are then segregated according to age groups and then are gift-wrapped for the children.
4. Toys collected, segregated, cleaned and gift-wrapped and then gifted to kids. Value education is given to the children during the toydistributions.
5. We felt the need to expand and reach out to many more children in India, with the help of volunteers.
6. Toybank now runs in Bangalore and Poona with the support from core Toybankers Vinay and Swetha.
Toys are given directly to street children as well as the NGOs working with children, creches, schools, orphanages and hospitals. Toydistribution also serves as a means for toybank volunteers to interact with children, provide positive values and speak about hygiene, education and career aspirations and their dreams, learn from them, listen to their stories and have a joyful and playful interaction with the kids.
Goals:
To ensure that children from under privileged backgrounds receive toysthrough collection and distributions.
To bridge the gap between children from different backgrounds by creative play/group events/community events.
To make play space available for children through– Toy libraries in available infrastructures; reclaim open public spaces for children.
To impart education and values through a Toy curriculum; play groups; children’s parliament.
To design and provide toys that will be context specific, by having toysmade in local languages as well.
To sensitize and advocate amongst individuals from all sections of society the need and importance of the right to play and the right to leisure for all children.
If you or any of your friends/family have any toys (in good condition), please contact us at [email protected] . We’ll ensure that they reach the truly deserving kids who can’t afford to buy them.