Posted on January 25, 2018 Every year, the Coalition for the Homeless hosts a Holiday Toy Drive to collect dolls, action figures, games, books and more for homeless girls and boys in New York City. Thanks to our generous supporters, this year we collected a record 14,000 toys! We kicked off the holiday season with our annual Kids’ Holiday Carnival, co-hosted by the United Federation of Teachers (UFT). More than 125 kids from city shelters played festive party games, hung out with Batman and Captain America, got their names drawn in cool graffiti art by Xmental Inc., and enjoyed a delicious lunch with ice cream sundaes for dessert! The kids were even treated to an astonishing magic show, and of course a visit from Santa himself. As they bundled up in their warmest winter gear ready to face a snowy afternoon, each girl and boy walked away with an extra special holiday gift and bag full of goodies to enjoy. The children in our Bound for Success after-school program received an unforgettable surprise – a winter wonderland party and a visit from the Amazon Treasure Truck! After an evening of fun and games with Amazon volunteers, the girls and boys walked outside to find the magical, illuminated Amazon Treasure Truck. Their faces lit up as the truck played festive tunes and dispensed gifts for the children and their families. It was a wonderful evening and we would like to give a big thanks to Amazon for brightening the holidays of so many girls and boys. Photos: Amazon We cannot begin to thank everyone who participated in this year’s Holiday Toy Drive. With your help, we had our most successful drive ever! Because of you, thousands of children could forget their worries and truly enjoy the holiday season. Thank you to everyone who donated through our Amazon Wish List or hosted toy drives in your apartment buildings, schools and businesses. We want to take a moment to recognize our volunteers from VML, Convene, Council of Accreditation, Tory Burch, JP Morgan Chase, Alliance for Health, Analytics Partners and White & Case for all of your hard work unpacking, sorting, and wrapping gifts and creating gift bags for our Holiday Party. We’d also like to thank UFT, The Albert Apartments, Feed Your Soul Bakery and Café, Analytics Partners, America’s Food Basket, Bank of America, Belardi Wong, Berg & Antrophy, CBS, Coller Capital, Edelman, IBO, ION Media Networks, Maximus, Missy Faren & Associates, Moelis & Company, NADAP, NYC Economic Development Corp (NYCEDC), NYC Department of Environmental Protection, NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, Otis Elevator, Paramount Group, Inc. Pfizer Foundation, Precise Corporate Printing, Inc., Red Fuse, Rose Associates, Societe Generale, Trevor Day School, Shawmut Design and Construction, Universal Music Group, Roger Clark and NY1, and Christy Burke and friends. Just some of the 14,000 toys that were delivered to homeless girls and boys this holiday season.
