We’re getting ready for the holiday season! TODAY is kicking off its 18th Annual Holiday Toy and Gift Drive for needy families all over the United States.
And you can be part of making this year's toy drive the most successful ever by donating in person or online at Amazon.com/Today
Why do we do it? You’ve read it in the papers and heard it on the news. Poverty in America has hit its highest rate since the Depression. And the hardest hit are children: nearly one in four live in poverty. For the children we help in our Toy Drive, that number is a sobering 90% of families.
So for these children, there will be no toys. Unless you help. We are proud to continue TODAY's long tradition of reaching beyond the looking glass of Studio 1A and right into the communities where our viewers live again in 2011.
Even the smallest gift is appreciated. This holiday season, as you celebrate your family, take a moment to let these children know they are loved. Help a mom or dad see their child smile this Holiday season with a donation to our Toy Drive.
TODAY has distributed nearly $250 million in donations since 1994. The TODAY Show Toy Drive is the first independent gift drive in morning show history. The unique program is designed to provide gifts for impoverished children and teenagers up to age 18 nationwide. Please help us during these trying times to give a gift to every child on our list. For many of them, we are the ONLY source of gifts for the holidays
Please contact us now!
If you are interested in making a contribution, and all donations are appreciated, no matter how big or small, please email either Sam Sagenkahn (sam.sagenkahn@nbcuni.com) or Kate Cook (katherine.cook@nbcuni.com) at the Toy Drive. We hope to hear from you. You can also call 212-664-7508 for more information.
Donate in person and see some stars!
The Toy Drive is now a Rockefeller Center tradition. Surprise celebrities visit the crowd each morning to gather up their donations. Among those who came to help in past years have been George Clooney, Jon Hamm, Hillary Swank, Jim Carrey, Sarah Jessica Parker, Matthew Broderick, Jack Black, Kevin Bacon, Scarlett Johannson, Samuel L. Jackson, Ben Stiller, Robert DeNiro, Jamie Lee Curtis, Ashanti, Flo Rida, The Script, Natasha Bedingfield, Paula Abdul, Rick Springfield, Sting, LL Cool J, Chris Isaak, Harry Connick, Jr., Martin Sheen, Julie Andrews, Robin Williams, Alex Rodriguez, Henry Kissinger, Yogi Berra, Katy Perry, Owen Wilson, Michael Buble, Joe Perry from Aerosmith, Dustin Hoffman, Fall Out Boy, Susan Lucci, Molly Shannon, Donald Trump, Jimmy Smits, Ricky Gervais, Jessica Alba, Phylicia Rashad, LeAnn Rimes, Jason Mraz and Jimmy Buffett. Who knows who will be wearing the Santa hat? You've got to be here to see!
Major donations from corporations will begin to appear on the show beginning November 21. Starting the Monday after Thanksgiving (Nov. 28), we're urging all the visitors to Rockefeller Plaza to join in the fun and bring a gift for a child up to age 18 and donate it live to a surprise guest, on camera every day until December 21nd. So if you're planning a trip to New York, be sure to pack a gift for a child in need.
If you can't make it to Rockefeller Center to donate, you can also donate online.
Donate online
Amazon.com is again the place to go to make online donations. Go to the TODAY show's Amazon Wish List. At www.amazon.com/today add as many items as you like to your cart, complete the checkout and Amazon.com will do the rest! All the toys from the TODAY show's Wish List are top sellers from Amazon's Holiday Toy List.
Donate anytime at the NBC Experience Store
If you can’t be here to join in the on-air fun, be sure to visit the NBC Experience Store to drop off your gift in the special TODAY show Toy Drive bin. This is the only place that you can donate in person after show hours.
The recipients
The items are often given to families who cannot afford to buy presents, so that the children can open a gift that's given to them by a loved one, not a charity. These items reach millions of kids in all 50 states. Recipients include homeless shelters, children's group homes, schools, foster family services, domestic abuse shelters, Native American missions, military bases, hospitals, preschools, after school programs, and the Boys and Girls Clubs of America. Click here to read our spotlight on one of those great organizations. Each week, we will be spotlighting one of those great organizations. This week, we're showcasing Portland Homeless Family Solutions' Goose Hollow Family Shelter.Click here to read more about them.
The TODAY Show Toy Drive is a project of the TODAY Show Charitable Foundation, Inc., a 501c3 non-profit organization. All donations are tax deductible to the extent the law allows. In 2010, it was awarded the Boys & Girls Clubs of America Foundation Philanthropy Award and in 2008, it was honored with a President's Volunteer Service Award.
Let's all work together in making this year's toy drive the most successful ever. It comes at a time of great need.
2011 Donors
Our sincere thanks go to the following organizations for their generous contributions:
Mary Kay, Abrams Books, Thirty-One Gifts, Little Brown Books for Young Readers, Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment's "Year of a Million Moments", PartyLite Gifts, Kohl's Department Store, The Southwestern Company, DK Publishing, Lego, Direct Selling Association, Stampin' Up!, Duracell, Tupperware, Amway, Mattel, Aeropostale, Goody, Cheerios, UPPAbaby, 4Life, Harper Collins Children's Books, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Microsoft, Arbonne, Stride Rite, Avon, TOMY, Ugly Dolls, Sara Lee Inc., Radio Flyer, Toy Industry Foundation, Hasbro, lia sophia, Jakks Pacific, Inc., Amazon.com,Essential Bodywear, MOGO, The Company Store, Cooper and Me, Kay Jewelers, Crest 3D White, Neways, Shaklee, Playmobil, Peanuts Worldwide, HomeGoods, Cutco, Wells Fargo, Barefoot Books, Bananagrams, Udderly Smooth, Vans, B'nai B'rith International, Caboodles, Major League Baseball, Blessings Unlimited, Pink Papaya, Team National, Senegence, Oxyfresh, Prestige Toy Company, Vantel Pearls, DeTech, Willow House,Mustela, Dad Does, Toys'R'Us, NSA, Wuggle Pets