Toybank reaches out to kids at two Schools in Pune!

Spread Joy with Toys. That is what happened when Toybank joined hands with Great Foundation and distributed toys to 365 children from Shahid Bhagat Singh and Swami Vivekanand Schools on 2nd and 9th July. Both these schools are adopted by Great Foundation, who provided Toybank the opportunity to reach out to all these children.

Shahid Bhagat Singh School: This is one of the primary schools located in Ghorpadi area which runs classes for children between the age group of 3 -10 year olds.  Tiny tots dressed in uniforms welcomed our volunteers at the school on 2nd July. About 22 volunteers had come together for the event. After a brief orientation about Toybank and its activities, volunteers divided themselves into pairs of two and proceeded to the classrooms.

The children were excited to have so many new people in the school and they enjoyed playing games, listening to stories, singing songs and doing other fun activities with our volunteers. Children were screaming out with joy on receiving toys and each of them had the opportunity to share their dreams with Toybank.

Catch the fun here

Swami Vivekanand School: This is one more English medium school situated in Ghorpadi and is also adopted by Great Foundation. This school runs classes for primary as well as high school and also offers Urdu medium education. On 9th July 24 volunteers assembled at the school to carry out the distribution activity. We began with a brief orientation on Toybank and its activities and moved on the segregate the toys for the classrooms.Once again volunteers moved to different classes and got the children to do fun activities apart from their regular studies.Volunteers indulged the kids into playing quizzes, story telling, poetry reciting, drawing, etc.

Both children and volunteers had a wonderful time spending the fun moments together.
 

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Volunteers Experience:

Amit Lodha from Bitwise Inc:

"After a successful TOY collection drive conducted in April Bitwise Foundation volunteers were eagerly waiting for 2nd July 2011. This was a different day from our normal mundane routine we were going to visit Shahid Bhagat Singh Primary School for the Toy Distribution. We all gathered at the school around 10:00am and Toybank volunteers introduced us to Toybank and its different initiatives. Later we divided ourselves into groups to interact with children from different classrooms. Visiting the classroom after such a long time and facing the small children was a truly different feeling. Also with the excitement we were little unsure of the response from children. And then "EKK SATHH NAMASTEEE..." came from the smiling faces. We were not only pleased to hear that but it also boosted our enthusiasm. We played few games with the children and were amazed to see their energy levels. We also narrated few stories that will help to build their morale. We all were enjoying each bit of it. Suddenly a Toybank volunteer came and asked us to start distributing toys and end the session. :( It was just like we went BACK To OUR Childhood.. :) A toy wrapped in newspaper was of course a big surprise for the children.
Another interesting activity we performed while distributing toys we performed was sharing their dreams. The dreams were so innocent and interesting. The enthusiasm of children, their innocence and the smiling faces are one of the unforgettable moments..."

Last but not least I would like to thank below volunteers from Bitwise Foundation for their active participation:

Ajay Nath

Ashish Rathi

Tushar Lahane

Sameer Patil

Prasad Kedri

Viajyanti Deshpande

Nishant Bhaskarwar

Viswamitra Kolli: "Its is wonderful being a part of Toybank organization, where we can come forward to serve the lesser privileged. Its immense pleasure in sharing joy with little charms
who are not even aware of what life is. I had really wonderful time in both the distribution events organized by Toybank in collaboration with Great Foundation in July. I would look forward for such activities , where in I can put my whole heartened effort in bringing cheers over the lil faces and others for the same."

Sagar Wagh: "Though it was my first event with Toybank, I didn't feel as if I was new. The experience was impeccably good. I feel, spending time with small children is the greatest joy. Definitely, I will look forward to many more such occasions to bring smile to children."

Toybank thanks Jaslene and team from Great Foundation for the lovely opportunity and all the support. Toybank also thanks all its volunteers and employees from Bitwise Solutions Pvt Ltd, IBM India - In Demand Community for actively participating in the events.