Dallas-based Integrity Marketing Group has donated 26,000 toys to Children's Health for Christmas. The head of the company says he started a toy drive among employees two years ago after his son was a patient.
"When you're in a hospital and you're a kid--when you're in a hospital period--it's hard," says Chief Executive Bryan Adams.
The first year, Adams says employees donated toys, and he matched them, delivering 500 items. This year, he says the project brought in 26,000 toys.
"You want these kids to feel like they're back home and they're able to have fun," he says. "That truly, in my opinion, goes a long way with their health care."
"When you're at the hospital, you don't have all the things from your room. If you have a pet, you don't have your pet. All of those things that make you a kid, you have to leave those behind," says Children's Health's Aracely Munoz.
Munoz says toys can help kids feel more comfortable, and staff can use stuffed animals to show kids what will happen when they place an IV or get an MRI.
"We're showing them they can do this. They can be brave," she says. "It's a poke and a prod, but at the end of the day, it's part of their treatment process. We just want to let them know they can do it, too."
Munoz says kids may also get a toy as a prize after surgery..
Integrity's Adams says the toys help the entire family feel better and forget they are in a hospital.
"It gives you hope. It gives you something to strive for. It gives you just joy in that moment," he says. "And it's for the whole family. It's not just for the kid. When Asher got that Nerf gun, we all had fun with it. It was awesome."
People can learn more about the project here.
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