Updates from our 6th anniversary celebrations - Bangalore Chapter

All through August 2010 we are celebrating Toybank's 6th anniversary and here are our bombaat updates from Bengaluru. On 14th of Aug we distributed toys to 45 children from Good Neighbors India!

Here's what Meena from Good Neighbors India had to say after the event:

"Hi Bharath

Thank you and your team. You and team spent your precious  time with our kids, children enjoyed a lot. All the children and parents are very happy to receive these toys.

thanks a  lot we need your support, looking forward"

Catch all the action here! 

Aamchi Mumbai gets ready for a Dhamaka!

Toybankers in Mumbai are all set to meet 305 children on the 15th of Aug! These are wonderful kids from “PRAYAS” – ek koshish.

“PRAYAS” – ek koshish is a movement which started in 2004 with 15 members of a small street play group who came from different backgrounds in Mumbai. It's a multifaceted social organization driven by the key principle of ‘action oriented work with rights based approach’.  Since its inception in 2004 it has initiated multiple social programmes.

It was started with the aim of creating awareness on the issue of men’s rights, HIV/AIDS and child rights. The organization has programmes which involve conducting crisis interventions, summer camps, training programs, publishing know your rights material, etc.

Details of the event:

Date and Time : Sunday, Aug 15th, 2010.

Venue : Mumbai

Here are a few pictures from our previous event with Prayas - ek koshish on 26th Jan 2010.

Bombaat Bengaluru celebrates Toybank's 6th anniversary!

Independence Day is here and so is Toybank's 6th anniversary! Come 15th of August and  yippppeee Toybank will turn 6!

Here's how we are celebrating in namma Bengaluru..

Good Neighbor India a voluntary organization started in the year of 2009, has it's office located on Geddalahalli Bhagalur road outside Bangalore. They have setup few schools in and around the Chikkajala area (24kms from Bangalore) for the children of quarry workers.

The Quarry is situated in Chikkajala. Most of the workers are stone cutters. They have migrated from Tamil Nadu, northern Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. Most of these families are nomadic in nature. 

Toybank will be distributing toys to the kids at one of the centers of Good Neighbor India in Chikkajala this Saturday. Hurry UP and join US!

Details of the event:
Date and Time : Saturday, Aug 14, 2010, 11 AM - 2 PM
Venue : Vidya Nagar Junction, Yelahanka, Bangalore.

No of Children: 45 (all aged below 5 years)
 
Directions to reach the location: 

• Keep going straight on NH7 (Hyderabad highway) - the route towards Bengaluru Intl. Airport till u reach Vidyanagar Junction in Chikkajala.
• Ask for "Vidyanagar Cross". On reaching Vidyanagar Cross, please call one of us for necessary guidance.

Public Transport Hints

• From Majestic, board any bus bound to Devanahalli (Bus nos. 297 and 298) and alight at Vidyanagar Cross.
• Alternatively, you may board any Vayu Vajra bus (Volvo buses plying to Intl. Airport) and alight at Vidyanagar cross.
• For more info on routes and route search, please visit bmtcinfo.com

Please confirm your participation ASAP by replying to bangalore@toybank.org. This will help us plan logistics and transport collectively. Feel free to call any of our Bangalore coordinators in case of any queries.

Bharath - 9945666454

Vinay - 9886049334 

The Better India features Toybank!

"In most of our homes, in some corner, packed inside cardboard boxes, we have toys that lay unused and useless.  Have you thought that they could bring joy to the life of children who never had toys to play with? Take them out of those boxes, wrap them up and send across to Toybank – you’ll feel a silent satisfaction sweep inside you. 

Toybank is about gifting toys to those children who have been deprived of so many things, let alone the ‘luxury’ of toys. Agreed there is poverty and misery around, but can we afford to have children around us growing up unhappy? Shweta Chari, a young and energetic Electronics engineer, found a calling inside her and decided that she will bring fun and play into the lives of disadvantaged children. She founded ‘Toybank’ with an honest vision of placing a toy in the hands of every child in India and the world."

Read more on The Better India

A Letter from Bhutan!

Toybank went International with it's toy distribution when we sent toys to around 120 children from Changzamtok lower secondary school in Thimphu, Bhutan!

We now have an ongoing association with the schools in Bhutan. Here's what our coordinator from Bhutan - Ashima Sachdeva-Khemka had to say about her experience with the activity:
 
'I saw a smile on those round and rosy cheeks as she held her first toy in her tiny hands. That is when i decided to do something. This was in Thimphu, Bhutan, the 'Happy Himalayan Kingdom'. Surprisingly most kids around here have to wait till they are five years or more to get their first doll or a ball. It is so because the society does not give any developmental value to toys. The belief amongst the masses is that leaves, twigs and stones are enough for a kid to play with so there is no point in spending money on toys!

 
The simple idea that struck me that day was, "Why not have a toy library for the 'not-so-well-off' Bhutanese kids?". I knew that it shouldn't be very difficult to find a group of like minded people and get this going in some way. But what I was not sure of, was whether there will be enough people to donate toys, as the middle class in Bhutan is not as vast as in India. Nevertheless, I started talking to some people and organizations. And as expected I was received with a nod of optimism from everyone.
 
The first person to support my enthusiasm was a Government School Principal in Thimphu, who immediately wanted to set up a toy library for her pre-primary children. She wanted to do it fast but for me the question was where would the toys come from? A toy collection drive in the city would need more people and time. "May be I should ask the Mumbai-based Toybank on how to do it?” So I wrote to the Toybankers in Mumbai and after just one meeting they were willing to share their toy stocks for Bhutan. I only had to arrange for the transport which thanks to my husband's corporate team's frequent flights became relatively easy.


In a matter of three weeks we were able to get the right amount of toys and games for at least 120 children from the school. The school has even involved the parents to volunteer for the play-time set aside for the kids to use this library. 

Thereafter the principal introduced me to her husband, who happened to be the national coordinator of the Early Childhood Development Centers (ECDC), a project of Bhutan Education Ministry and UNICEF. He along with a representative from the UNICEF team were impressed by the quality of toys sent from India and were keen to have a similar toy library for their 12 centers across rural Bhutan serving around 250 children and their families. The Mumbai based Toybank was more than happy to support this initiative. Moreover, the ECDC team wanted to test run a toy collection drive in Thimphu. They tried to collect toys through their own stall in a fair with the help of some young volunteers. However, the collection did not match the quality and quantity expected.

 

The ECDC toy initiative has continued to carry on with complete support from Toybank. Understanding the difficult geography of rural Bhutan, the distribution of the toys across centers is taking time and I am still awaiting the first piece of news and pictures from the kids there. 

My personal experience though this entire journey of four months has made me believe in the saying "you take one step and there will be a thousand towards you". So while I acted just as a bridge, there were others like the Education secretary, the school principal, the national coordinator of the ECDC and the UNICEF representative, who made the path perfect for the toys to travel and reach the deserving hands.'


Kudos to Ashima from everyone at Toybank for her wonderful efforts in making this happen!

Meet the Toybankers in UK at the Bosom Pals Charity Event

Toybank UK kick-started it's operations in May 2010 with a fantastic event at Queen's Gate Junior School in London.

This event was quickly followed by our association with Bosom Pals Appeal, Southend Hospital Charitable Foundation, Essex.

Here's what Nilam Patel, a Toybanker who's part of our committee in UK had to say about the event:
 

"On Saturday 5th June, Sunita Suvarna hosted her 4th Charity Dinner dance at Sweyne Park school in Rayleigh, Essex, in aid of Bosom Pals, the charity which supports patients (and families) of those who have been diagnosed with Breast Cancer.

Sunita organized her first Charity Dinner and Dance in September 2004. The idea came to mind after her husband Praful, along with other family members, participated in a charity walk for Bosom Pals. It is at this point that Sunita decided to do something more and with huge amounts of support from her family and her army of well wishers, volunteers and sponsors the event was a huge success raising close to £5,000! There was no looking back. Sunita went onto organise her second function in 2006, then again in 2008 with 2010 marking her 4th and final event.

It is with huge pride to announce that these events have in total raised close to £23,000 so a huge and hearty congratulations to Sunita and her family and friends. 

I am pleased to say that Toybank UK has also extended their support this year, by placing an advertisement in the event brochure which was much appreciated. The brochure, along with representation from the UK committee of Toybank, gave us a great opportunity to raise awareness about the work we do as well as drum up new support! With close to 300 people attending this event we can rest assured that Toybank UK has well and truly landed....!"

Organizer - Sunita Suvarna at the charity event

May 2010 Updates - We reach out to 260 children from Bangalore & Mumbai!

Mumbai:
Toybank partnered with Mr. Sanjay Shinge of the NGO ‘Humanity Foundation’ for a distribution event on the 2nd of May 2010 at Dadar.

Toybank distributed toys to around 200 kids of the NGO. A team of dedicated Toybank volunteers kept the kids on the go with a range of activities like playing games, singing songs, reciting poems etc. After spending some quality time with the kids the toys were distributed to them. The twinkle in their eyes, the beautiful smile and curiosity on their faces to know if they are getting a cricket bat or a football showed how happy they were to receive the toys.

The kids surely had a gala time and so did we !!

Bangalore:
We had a toy distribution event with the summer camp organized by IAR on 16th of May last year. And we did it again this year! We reached out to 60 children participating in a summer camp at Lakshmipura in Tavarakere, Magadi Road, Bangalore Rural.

IAR (Indian Agency for Rehabilitation) India conducts this summer camp every year and they call it - the Tavarakere summer camp project.

Catch all the action here!