A toy drive is a charity event that collects toys or money to be distributed to those in need.
This is usually for the celebration of Christmas. Volunteers are brought together to sort through toys to wrap and sort for age appropriateness. Appeals are made in shopping centers, schools, and other places for the public to purchase toys and to meet certain goals. Many charities or organizations will orchestrate a seasonal effort on top of their usual practices. Many police departments, fire departments, and military groups are involved in these efforts. One of the most important and famous toy drives is Toys For Tots which is operated by the United States Marine Corps. [1]
A toy or plaything is an object that is used primarily to provide entertainment. Simple examples include toy blocks, board games, and dolls. Toys are often designed for use by children, although many are designed specifically for adults and pets. Toys can provide utilitarian benefits, including physical exercise, cultural awareness, or academic education. Additionally, utilitarian objects, especially those which are no longer needed for their original purpose, can be used as toys. Examples include children building a fort with empty cereal boxes and tissue paper spools, or a toddler playing with a broken TV remote control. The term "toy" can also be used to refer to utilitarian objects purchased for enjoyment rather than need, or for expensive necessities for which a large fraction of the cost represents its ability to provide enjoyment to the owner, such as luxury cars, high-end motorcycles, gaming computers, and flagship smartphones.
In cryptography, plaintext usually means unencrypted information pending input into cryptographic algorithms, usually encryption algorithms. This usually refers to data that is transmitted or stored unencrypted.
The Save the Children Fund, commonly known as Save the Children, is an international, non-government operated organization. It was founded in the UK in 1919, with the goal of helping improve the lives of children worldwide.
A rubber duck or a rubber duckie is a toy shaped like a duck, that is usually yellow with a flat base. It may be made of rubber or rubber-like material such as vinyl plastic. Rubber ducks were invented in the late 1800s when it became possible to more easily shape rubber, and are believed to improve developmental skills in children during water play.
Fundraising or fund-raising is the process of seeking and gathering voluntary financial contributions by engaging individuals, businesses, charitable foundations, or governmental agencies. Although fundraising typically refers to efforts to gather money for non-profit organizations, it is sometimes used to refer to the identification and solicitation of investors or other sources of capital for for-profit enterprises.
Shadow Raiders is a Canadian animated television series produced by Mainframe Entertainment and syndicated by The Summit Media Group, that aired from September 16, 1998, to June 23, 1999. The show was loosely based on the Trendmasters toy line, War Planets. The original character designs were created by ReBoot designer, Brendan McCarthy. The series focused on the four warring planets of a solar system called the Cluster as they were forced to set aside their differences and form a coalition against the menace of the Beast Planet.
Toys for Tots is a program run by the United States Marine Corps Reserve which distributes toys to children whose parents cannot afford to buy them gifts for Christmas. It was founded in 1947 by reservist Major Bill Hendricks.
The teddy bear toss is a popular Christmas season promotion most common at junior ice hockey and minor league hockey games. Fans are encouraged to bring teddy bears or other stuffed toys to the game, and to throw them onto the ice when the home team scores its first goal. The toys are gathered up to be donated as presents to hospitals and charities. In many cases, the players themselves personally donate some of the bears to children at area hospitals. The Hershey Bears claim a world record of 67,309 stuffed toys in a single game.
In charitable organizations, a drive is a collection of items for people who need them, such as clothing, used items, books, canned food, cars, etc. Some drives are that people go through their inventory, bag the items up, and put them in a giveaway bin, or charitable organizations such as Big Brothers Big Sisters, The Salvation Army come to the house and pick them up. They then put the items in their thrift stores or, if they don't have any, sell them to thrift stores to raise money for their organization.
Spider-Man Classics is a term used by collectors most commonly to refer to several action figure lines produced by Toy Biz focusing on Spider-Man and his allies and enemies. The lines have over 17 series, with dozens of Spider-Man incarnations and many of his famous enemies. The toyline lasted 5 years starting from 2001 to 2005. A year later, ToyBiz released a new series titled "The Amazing Spider-Man". That same year, by changing the license from Marvel at the hands of Hasbro, they released Spider-Man Origins. In 2008, Hasbro released a reboot of Spider-Man Classics simply called "Spider-Man".
Long Beach Lesbian & Gay Pride is held yearly on the next to last weekend in May in Long Beach, California. Long Beach Pride held its first event in 1984 and has since grown to be the second largest gay pride event in the United States. The Pride Celebration is Produced by the non-profit organization called the LBLGP Inc. They operate all year long and donate money to many charitable and other non-profit organizations.
Operation Homefront is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization headquartered in San Antonio, Texas, and Arlington, Virginia. Its stated mission is to "build strong, stable, and secure military families so that they can thrive in the communities they have worked so hard to protect." The current CEO and President is John I. Pray, Jr., Brig Gen, USAF (Ret).
William L. Hendricks was a former USMCR Colonel who was the key figure in setting up the "Toys for Tots" program. Aside from his USMCR career, he also worked in the film industry for many years, initially as a documentary producer for the United States Army, then as a production executive at Warner Bros., where he eventually became the final producer of the Looney Tunes series.
A Girl's Night Out was a series of charity concerts by Barbadian singer Rihanna to benefit the "Believe Foundation". The concerts were made free for the public. Money from sponsors and advertisers were to be donated to provide medical supplies, school supplies and toys to children in need.
The Entertainer (Amersham) Ltd. is the UK's largest independent toy retailer, which operates more than 170 stores. The company was founded by the husband and wife team Catherine and Gary Grant in 1981, when Gary purchased a local toy shop in Amersham, Buckinghamshire, England.
Pillow Pets are a brand of stuffed toys with velcro straps which enable them to be converted from a decorative pillow into a stuffed animal. The toys are made from chenille. Pillow Pets were invented by Jennifer Telfer in 2003. They first gained success when Telfer personally sold the toys close to the Christmas season of that year. They would later become more successful through television advertising, where the company's slogan, "It's a pillow, it's a pet, it's a Pillow Pet!" was featured in every ad. Pillow Pets have been used for charitable fund raising.
A food drive is a form of charity that is conducted by a group of individuals or a corporation to stockpile and distribute foodstuffs to people who cannot afford food.
Project for Awesome is a community-driven charitable movement on YouTube, created by the Green brothers, Hank and John, run through their VlogBrothers YouTube channel and through their online community known as Nerdfighteria. Formerly dubbed the Nerdfighter Power Project for Awesome, the project has taken place annually since 2007. The movement was started to have YouTubers create innovative videos promoting their favorite charity and upload it by a certain deadline, with the aim that their promoted charity gains more awareness, and donations from audiences.
The BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir is a Hindu temple complex located in Chino Hills, in southwestern San Bernardino County in southern California. The temple belongs to the Bochasanwasi Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha denomination of Hinduism. However, the BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir is open to visitors of all faiths.
"Mad About the Toy" is the eleventh episode of the thirtieth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons, and the 650th episode overall. It aired in the United States on Fox on January 6, 2019.