Donations from UAB students, faculty and staff, as well as community members, have made this year’s UAB Toy Drive the biggest ever.
In addition to toys dropped off in boxes around campus, donors gave through two online wish lists; at a teddy bear toss organized by UAB Athletics at the Dec. 4 UAB men’s basketball game; and in individual drives that were then donated to UAB.
“UAB IT organizes the toy drive, which is in its 29th year, but donations come from every corner of campus,” said Jennifer Jones, HR administrator and one of the department’s UAB Staff Council members. “This year we also challenged departments to donate bicycles. Our goal was 50 bicycles and ride-on toys, and UAB came through. We collected 30 bikes from the School of Nursing alone.”
Toys collected are donated to the U.S. Marines Toys for Tots campaign, which provides toys for children in need throughout the Birmingham area.
Donations also came from Ramsey High School, the Veterans Administration and Pelham High School Band members.
“We cannot say thank you enough to the individuals, schools and organizations that donated,” said Macy Moon, UAB IT communications specialist and Staff Council member. “We are overwhelmed by the response, but we are not surprised by the generosity of the UAB community.”