Toys and Games all the way from Washington!

 I have always felt a strong connection to the community of Mumbai, where I spent my childhood, even though I do not live there anymore. Though I now live in Washington D.C., I still consider Mumbai my home. Ever since I was two years old and living there, I have looked for ways to improve my city and what I can do to for the people there. In Mumbai, there is a large divide of the privileged and the underprivileged, and many people who are privileged ignore the others when their resources can help those in need. I was a hands-on volunteer with Toybank in the summer of 2017. After spending time in a part of Mumbai that I was not too familiar with, I learned about the culture of the people in those smaller communities and had grown close to the children I worked with. Each child I met, irrespective of their background, had sparks of hope, ambition and unmeasurable potential. This potential could not go unnoticed or ignored, so I decided to do what I could do to help Toybank achieve their mission of spreading education to young kids through play. In Washington D.C., I have access to toys and resources that the community in Mumbai may not, and being in a different county I can increase the scope of people who want to contribute to Toybank’s mission. With the help of a few individuals and communities around me, I was able to start collecting toys that would soon make a difference in a child's life. In my first drive, I collected almost 100 toys that will be sent back to Mumbai to help “be a reason behind their smile.” I will continue to work hard to collect toys that will help children expand their educational resources, and hopefully give back some of their childhood. 

~ Anjali Bose, Toybank volunteer