Kozhikode: A Mumbai-based NGO, Toy Bank, is now collecting toys and games, to support the flood-hit anganwadis in Kerala. The idea to mobilise new toys for toddlers crystallised after the representatives of the Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited, who arrived in Kerala to clean up and renovate the anganwadis across the state destroyed in flood, realised the childcare centres are in a bad shape and communicated the same to the NGO.
The corporate social responsibility initiative of Mazagon Dock, a premier ship building company of the central government, received support from the NGO, who is collecting toys for the toddlers here now. Mazagon Dock is taking the help of National Service Scheme (NSS) and National Cadet Corps (NCC) to clean up the anganwadis, schools and government health centres in Kerala.
More than 100 anganwadis were destroyed in Alappuzha and Pathanamthitta districts alone. Before they open in September, the volunteers are planning to renovate them and furnish them with toys and games. The donors are requested to donate toddler toys, board games, puzzles as well as art and craft supplies, said the officials of the Toy Bank. Donors should avoid toys with sharp edges, the ones that promote violence (guns, swords etc.), dolls and broken or incomplete toys, they advised.
The toys can be dropped at any Healthspring Centre in Mumbai or interested donors may contact the NGO for information about the drop-off location. They can be reached at donate@toybank.org or 96994 68235/ 80808 68235.
“We have collected 1,000 to 1,500 toys from 15 drop-off points in Mumbai. These are apart from the nearly 1500 games we had collected or purchased. We would be able to send it to Kerala by next week,” said Shweta, an official representing the Toy Bank.
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