How Toy Story 4 Led to a Storm of Toy Donations for At-Risk-Kids

Close to 25 years have passed since the original Toy Story movie hit theaters around the world and enchanted millions of children everywhere.

The children from back then have since grown up and many now have children of their own with whom they can share one of the greatest children’s movie series ever. 

24 years after the release of the original movie, Toy Story 4 came to cinemas around the world in June 2019, Disney studios thought of something special. 

Disney Israel, the Israeli division of The Walt Disney Company, had the idea of collecting toys from kids who don’t need them anymore and give them to children that do.

The studio contacted Ruach Tova, the organizers of Good Deeds Day, to help them pull off a nation-wide collection week to unite thousands of old toys with new and happy owners. 

The organization helped Disney set up collection stations at major cinemas across Israel, where children and parents could come to drop off their old toys that deserved a second life.

Ruach Tova’s volunteers at the movie theaters even set up ‘first-aid’ stations where they fixed broken toys that could still be rescued. 

Disney and Ruach Tova also partnered with Lasova. The organization runs 21 ‘Kadima’ Youth Houses for at-risk-youth all over Israel and was the perfect recipient for the collected toys.

Between June 16-24, Disney, Ruach Tova, and Lasova succeeded in collecting an estimated two tons of toys that will all bring a huge smile to a kid’s face.

“The connection we helped created between Disney and the Kadima Youth House is a fantastic example of how businesses can inspire social activity that creates a chain of good deeds and strengthens the bond with the community,” Ido Lotan, the CEO of Ruach Tova told Goodnet.

Ruach Tova, which operates under the Ted Arison Family Foundation, has lots of experience in connecting volunteers and businesses and previously did large-scale projects with companies such as Coca Cola and others.

Lotan says that beyond just volunteering, Ruach Tova strives to help organizations make the most out of the time their employees donate and that this time is spent truly making a difference – both for the volunteer and the community. “We want to help make sure that the time that employees spend volunteering is maximized to its full potential and also gets to the right place.”

“We actually go and visit companies and do surveys with the employees to find out where and how they want to help. This way we can match them with a project that they truly believe in,” Lotan said.

The organization’s goal is to strengthen volunteering activity in all of Israel. Ruach Tova matches volunteers with over 3,000 nationwide organizations and 8,000 volunteer projects in virtually any of the many different communities in the country.

In addition, it is also the organizer of Good Deeds Day, a global day of doing good that mobilizes millions around the world.

Goodnet was initiated by Shari Arison and is operated by The Ted Arison Family Foundation. Shari Arison is also the initiator of Good Deeds Day.