Children’s Hospital receives toy
donation
MUSC Children’s Hospital received 350 free toys from toymaker giant
Mattel in July as part of a partnership between the National
Association of Children’s Hospitals and Related Institutions (NACHRI)
and Mattel Inc. The National Children’s Hospitals Mattel Toy Donation
Program will be used to bring joy and comfort to hospitalized children.A pallet of 36 boxes was delivered in front of the Children’s Hospital on July 12. Child Life specialists were on hand to open boxes and distribute the toys through their toy lending library. The toys, which include Fisher-Price’s Ocean Wonders Aquarium, Fisher-Price's Learning Birdbaths, and Little People theme characters and other items, are age-specific and geared toward infants and toddlers.
“It’s really terrific to receive a donation of this kind,” said Sandra Oberman, Child Life Department manager. “Having these valuable, first-quality toys not only extends our efforts to provide our young patients with toys through the hospital’s toy lending library, it helps us support children through play and relaxation within a hospital setting. This is very important to us.”
Seven-year-old
Krista Dick and her cousin, Mandy Stone, play with some new donated
toys at the Children's Hospital Atrium.In total, NACHRI and Mattel will distribute more than 113,000 toys to hospitalized children across the country in 2005. The total retail value of the toy donation is nearly $500,000. In addition, Mattel is paying the shipping costs for each hospital. As one of NACHRI’s 186 member children’s hospitals, MUSC Children’s Hospital received the first of two shipments of toys in mid-July and will receive a second shipment within the year.
“Mattel’s philanthropy is about putting smiles on the faces of children,” said Robert A. Eckert, chairman and chief executive officer of Mattel. “We are especially proud of being able to help hospitalized children at MUSC Children’s Hospital through this unique product donation to NACHRI members.”
Gifts In Kind International, an organization that partners with businesses and nonprofit organizations to provide quality products and services that improve lives in communities around the world, is administering the distribution of the toys.
In addition, a $100,000 grant from the Mattel Children’s Foundation to NACHRI will support national injury prevention initiatives. The goal of the grant is to share information that will reduce the number of preventable injuries in communities across the country.
“The Mattel Children’s Foundation is committed to its vision of ‘making a meaningful difference one child at a time,’” said Kevin Farr, chairman of the Mattel Children’s Foundation and chief financial officer of Mattel.
For more information about NACHRI, visit http://www.childrenshospitals.net.
Friday, Aug. 12, 2005
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