The journey began on August 15th, 2004. Shweta Chari, an Electronics Engineer founded Toybank with a vision of reaching out to children through fun and play using toys. A small idea that started in a small restaurant in Bombay has over the years gathered momentum with the help and support of friends and volunteers from all across Bombay. Within a shortest span of time and very minimal resources, Toybank is bringing smiles on thousands of deprived faces. Toybank acts as a leveler of the society by taking toys from those that can give and distributing them to the ones in need.

In a way Toybank attempts to prove the belief of John.F.Kennedy, 'If the free society cannot help the many that are poor, it can never save the few who are rich.'

Toybank honestly dreams to place a toy in the hands of every child in India and the world. The toy shapes the psyche of the children, so utmost care is taken to give only unbiased and morally correct toys to children.

Toybank norms for types of toys:
 1. Toys that promote violence such as, guns, swords and similar such toys are not accepted by Toybank
 2. Toys in good condition are a must, any part broken or torn from the toy then that toy should kindly be kept aside.
 3. Barbie dolls are also not accepted as Toybank does not believe in discrimination.
The toys that are collected are then segregated according to age groups and then are gift-wrapped for the children.

As through the years, toys were collected, segregated and gift-wrapped and then gifted on a one-on-one basis to the kids from all over Bombay. We soon realized that the beneficiaries of toys were impacted much beyond our expectation. The children began to recognize that play was one of their core rights. They also began expressing themselves better and were more in tune with their lives and circumstances.

We felt the need to expand and reach out to many more children in India. With the help of volunteers, Toybank also started monitoring the children that were impacted through the Toybank activities. The events became more intense with more focus given to value education to the children while during the toy distributions.

Toybank now runs in Bangalore and Poona with the support from core Toybankers Vinay and Swetha.

Toybank hopes to become a more sustainable organisation, stand-up as an independent organisation, increase its reach and spread happiness in the lives of many more children from all parts of the world.

Toybank is a non-profit organization that has been set up with the aim of providing toys to all children.

Vision: A world where all children have a happy and healthy childhood.

Goals:

• To ensure that children from under privileged backgrounds receive toys through collection and distributions.
• To bridge the gap between children from different backgrounds by creative play/group events/community events.
• To make play space available for children through-- Toy libraries in available infrastructures; reclaim open public spaces for children.
• To impart education and values through a Toy curriculum; play groups; children's parliament.
• To design and thus provide toys that will be context specific, by having toys made in local languages as well.
• To sensitize and advocate amongst individuals from all sections of society the need and importance of the right to play and the right to leisure for all children.

At Toybank, we do not discriminate on the basis of gender, caste, color, religion or disability/sexual orientation. We let all the children know that we are all one in this world. Thus it is purely a humanitarian concept. We strongly hold the belief that every child, irrespective of his/her social & financial background has the right to make the most of his/her childhood. While accessibility to a decent education is of prime importance, one should not overlook how important a role can indulgence in extra-curricular activities play in molding the lives of these children as they evolve into strong, sensitive individuals. After all, these are the very same children who will represent the face of a better globe, a responsible globe.

Street children are subject to malnutrition, hunger, health problems, substance abuse, theft, harassment by the city police and railway authorities, physical and sexual abuse. Inadequacy of budget allocation impacts on sustainability of projects and, in particular, the ability to employ qualified and experienced social workers. There is evidence that childhood and adolescent depression is on the rise through the child's growing years. Play through toys helps the children distract their minds from these hazardous environments. It helps them from succumbing to the distress caused by their circumstances.

The fact that each day we meet and see so many kids around the slums on Bombay who are either homeless or left on the streets to fend for themselves, these kids that sit on the pavements playing with stones or broken toys or cycle tires, overwhelms us to immediately fill in that need, the need of a proper and a rightful childhood.

The day every child in this universe, rich/poor, has his/her childhood back, be it in terms of Toys, or education, or basic right to survival and development and that no organization like Toybank or any other is required to give all that, will be the day when we would have really accomplished our goal.

We at Toybank think that we are all pieces of a large jig saw puzzle; some fulfill basic needs of food, clothing and education while some like us focus on bringing happiness through play into the lives of children. The day all the pieces are put in perfectly and the picture is crystal clear, will be the day Toybank can shut shop.

Our observations:
At Toybank we have witnessed clear changes in many of the children Toybank has reached out to. Many children now have learnt the importance of sharing, of being more sensitive towards their environment, of respecting their elders and even their brothers and sisters, of controlling their temper and most of all through the toys they receive from Toybank, they have again become children, happy and joyous just as how children should be. These observations and studies have convinced us all at Toybank that there is a definite need for an organization as ours.

Vivek Asrani
Managing Director
Kaymo Fastener Company
Vivek did his schooling from Campion School and graduated from St. Xaviers College in Science and later went on to do his L.L.B. He was the Founder President of The Association of Youth for a Better India in 1991. He is a faculty at MRA (Moral Re-Armament) IofC (Initiatives of Change International). He is currently running his stapling and nailing business at Kaymo.

Jiby Thomas
Co-Founder & VP-Marketing
www.quikr.com
Jiby heads Marketing & Community Development at Quikr - India’s leading online classifieds website and has more than 14 years of work experience. Before Quikr, Jiby was Head of Kijiji India and a member of eBay India’s Management Team. He was also part of the start-up team that launched Baazee.com (now eBay India). Prior to this, he was with Contract Advertising - A WPP Agency. He holds a Degree in Economics, is a Post Graduate in Advertising & PR and did a Executive Program in 'Leading and Managing' from IIM, Kolkata.
Jiby has been closely associated with Toybank since 2005.

M V Subramanian
Head of Business Banking Division of Axis Bank
Subramanian, is currently the Head of Business Banking Division of Axis Bank. Earlier to this assignment, he was the Executive Trustee and CEO of Axis Bank Foundation, a public trust set up in 2006 by Axis Bank to carry out their CSR activities. That job involved in the identification of credible NGOs for project grants on Education and livelihood and monitor the utilisation of the grants. During the past four years, ABF had partnered with more than 40 NGOs all across India and had committed grants amounting to over Rs 20 crores. A Science graduate who passed out from Loyola College, Chennai, he commenced his banking career in 1978 with nationalised banks. Subramanian has been involved with Toybank activities in early 2011.

Vikram Nerurkar
Founder, Director
www.opentree.in
Vikram is the founder and techie wizard at Open Tree Web and has a rich academic background. He completed his Bachelors in Computer Engineering, from Sardar Patel College of Engineering, Bombay University. He went on to do his Masters from the very prestigious Cornell University, Ithaca, New York in Computer Science. Vikram carries with him a variety of industry experiences. He began his career with an intensive Software Training Program with Infosys Technologies Ltd. Soon after his post graduation he was absorbed by Electronics Arts Inc., Los Angeles. After moving to India he worked as a Senior Programmer with India Games Pvt. Ltd. (part of the UTV Group) He has been the founding supporter of Toybank since early 2004.

Farnaza Governor
Bombay Core Coordinator
Farnaza has a background in Psychology and has also studied Social Entrepreneurship from Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies. At Toybank she focuses on volunteers, children Toybank works with and also manages the activities within the toy libraries set up by Toybank across Bombay. She also coordinates with all the NGOs Toybank has partnered with and conducts follow up programs. She has been consistently working at reaching out to more and more children from various NGOs and Government schools across Bombay.
Farnaza has been a part of Toybank since September 2010.

Shweta Chari
Founder, CEO
Shweta is an Electronics Engineer, a self-driven individual who is passionate about everything she does in her life. She handles Toybank’s core strategies, ideates on new concepts to expand Toybank. She also goes full throttle into raising toys and funds for Toybank. She oversees the entire working of Toybank in India, UK and Bhutan.

Sriram R
Entrepreneur, Consultant, Mentor
Sriram co-founded Crossword in 1992 & helped build it into India’s leading bookstore chain. He stepped down from Crossword in August 2006 & co-founded "Next Practice Retail" that offers business design, incubation & consulting services for consumer & retail businesses. He is an advisor to Seedfund, the early stage venture fund and is an Independent Director on the Boards of Kokuyo Camlin Ltd and Kokuyo Camlin Alphakids Ltd. He's a visiting faculty at IIM A & a guest lecturer at IIM L & other business schools as it helps him keep learning. He advises & mentors individuals & firms. He's is particularly interested in entrepreneurship, innovation, business strategy & incubation, purpose & culture, leadership & next practices. He has been a part of Toybank since early 2012.

Purab Kohli
Model & Actor
Purab started his career with a popular TV Show called Hip Hip Hurray, after which he earned recognition as a VJ on Channel V. After his stint on TV, he made his debut in a feature film 'Bus Yun hi'. He went on to act in movies like My Brother Nikhil, Woh Lamhe, and Awarapan. His last Film 'Rock On' has now become a cult film in India. Kohli's work in Rock On garnered him a Special Jury Mention in the 2009 Filmfare Awards. Purab has been involved with social causes like Animal welfare, welfare of under privileged women and children, low cost housing projects and also been part of Toybank since early 2009.

Vinay Somani
Convener, NGO Council & Founder Karmayog
www.karmayog.org
Vinay has been one of the founding supporters of Toybank since its inception in 2004. He has given his time and invaluable feedback each time Toybank has needed it. He is the Founder of Karmayog, an online portal that connects all of the NGO sector in India and across the globe.