Spreading Holiday Spirit: One Toy at a Time

A total of 1.4 million New Yorkers, including one in five children, live in poverty. The holidays can be an extremely stressful time for many BCS families, who are juggling food and housing expenses with the optional expense of gift giving.  The annual BCS Toy Drive has one goal: to give a gift to every child across BCS programs.  Each year, since its launch in 2013, the drive has been successful in its mission through the generous contributions of both corporate and individual donors. This past holiday season marked the 9th consecutive successful drive, where nearly 2,000 toys were distributed to children and youth in BCS programs.

How Does It Work?

To launch the Toy Drive, BCS Program Directors make lists of all the children in their programs, along with their ages, so that no BCS child is left without a gift during the holiday season. Our Volunteer Department uses these lists to work with toy donors to ensure they collect the correct amount of age appropriate toys for each program.

Next up, the thousands of toys must be wrapped. In order to accomplish this daunting task, our Volunteer Department organizes “BCS Wrapping Parties.” Volunteers come from a wide range of places, including current BCS clients across programs, our corporate partners and other NYC organizations. The Volunteer Department also spends hours of their own time wrapping gifts and recruiting BCS administrative staff to aid in this effort.

Once all the gifts are wrapped, the BCS Facilities and Maintenance staff deliver the toys to programs all across Brooklyn, from Fort Greene to East New York to Coney Island! The children receive the gifts at their programs’ holiday parties and some are even delivered by special holiday guests…

Toy Drive Impact, According to BCS Staff

“The Toy Drive is important because it teaches our youth to be grateful. The gift wasn’t a reward for good behavior or something that was owed to them, but they are always grateful for it. It teaches them to show the same kindness they were once shown to someone else. The smiles and excitement they have when they are opening their gifts show how thankful they are for the gifts they receive.”

– Shanay Bell, Director at BCS’ East New York Family Academy (ENYFA)

“The Toy Drive is positive and influential in the community. The students in our programs were excited to receive a gift, and the parents were more than appreciative. It allows us to continue to foster bonds and connection with the students’ families.”

– Briahna Roberts, Assistant Director at BCS’ Spring Creek Community School (SCCS)

The 2022 Toy Drive would not have been possible without the amazing work of our Volunteer Department, Maintenance and Facilities staff, donors, and volunteers.