Toy Bank: Bringing smiles to the poor children
Deepak Kumar Rath
Vijay Goel, former Union Minister, along with his daughter Vidyun Goel, organised a function to introduce a new project ?Toy Bank? in New Delhi on December 17, 2005. Former Prime Minister I.K. Gujral, who was present on the occasion, showered his blessings and appreciated the sincere motive of the Toy Bank. Shri Goel informed that the Toy Bank idea has been well received by the people and institutions. The Toy Bank has collected more than 30,000 toys through donation from the people and schools.
While introducing the Toy Bank project, Shri I.K. Gujral said though it might not be possible to change a child'sfortunes overnight but this serious project would definitely be a milestone in the efforts to put a smile on the faces of leaders of tomorrows, whose happy childhood shall ultimately build a happy India. Shri Gujral also distributed awards to the principals of various schools, which were the first to take initiatives for the Toy Bank. Shri Gujral also distributed toys to the poor children.
The toys collected by the Toy Bank were on display during the function and these looked as good as new. When asked about the idea of Toy Bank, Shri Goel said: ?Now-a-days the parents due to their preoccupation are not able to give quality time to their children and they compensate this by giving them more toys and thus every house contains a lot of toys. Also previously, a family used to have four-five siblings and a toy travelled from the hands of elder brother/sister to the younger one. But now-a-days a family is restricted to one or two kids, so the toys do not travel in too many hands. Hence, they are dumped in a good condition. Our aim is to collect those toys and subsequently distribute those to the poor and underprivileged children.?
The Toy Bank apart from its present center at Aadharshila Vidyapeeth, Pitampura, shall soon be opening another toy collection center at Hanuman Road, Connaught Place, New Delhi and will also be starting a Toy Bank van for collecting/distributing toys. Shri Goel also informed that the Toy Bank, besides distributing toys to the poor children, will soon initiate activities like puppet shows, melas, competitions, talk shows, medical assistance and other activities for the poor and destitute children.
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