Toy Bank: Interview with the Toy Foundation’s Executive Director Pamela Mastrota

The Toy Bank is a program that aims to make children in need smile by presenting them with playthings around Christmastime Would prefer to not commit to one religion’s holidays, to keep it general. The program aims to support children for the holidays and all year round. The Toy Bank is run by The Toy Foundation that collects millions of toys from companies and distributes them to thousands of children’s charities and hospitals around the globe! In the two decades since it was established, The Toy Bank program has collected $35 million worth of toys. The Toy Bank’s largest collection in 2023 was at the New York Toy Fair which took place in early October. At that event, they amassed $2 million in toys and games that will support 30,000 children in need via their partnerships with NYC-based nonprofits Metro World Child it feels odd to link to our YouTube video here and not their website and Children of Promise, among others — about 10 nonprofits received the toys.

The Toy Foundation’s Executive Director Pamela Mastrota recently discussed this charity via an exclusive interview.

Meagan Meehan (MM): How did you get interested in toys and how did you find your way to this organization?

Pamela Mastrota (PM): For as long as I can remember I have been drawn to making a difference in the lives of others, especially children in need. Starting in my adolescence, I volunteered for many years to be a ‘team captain’ of a youth group walk fundraising team for a children’s charity. I don’t think I realized at the time that taking on that role taught me how to engage others on the team, how to be a mentor, and how to lead others and help them improve. Throughout the years, I have truly enjoyed the continuous learning element — you can only really get better, and at the same time you need to adapt to new team members, and new strategies, and learn to work in a team.

Professionally, I’ve had opportunities to lead and transform teams with successful outcomes in for-profit and non-profit organizations, and then scale performance to further increase impact. I held C-level leadership positions at nonprofits, including Make-A-Wish Metro NY & Western NY and National Multiple Sclerosis Society Long Island Chapter, and these roles are what led me to The Toy Foundation. I continue to draw upon my diversified experience to lead the Foundation in better serving the toy industry and its philanthropic and business interests.

Play offers extraordinary benefits to all children and can be an immense source of comfort and joy for children affected by poverty, humanitarian crisis, and illness. The Toy Foundation’s mission is to be the uniting force for the collective philanthropy of the toy industry for the benefit of all children in need. I’m honored to work with our Board of Trustees to fulfill this mission to serve and support children and promise a life fulfilled through play.

MM: How has the foundation grown over the years?

PM: In my two and a half years as Executive Director, I worked with The Toy Foundation’s Board of Trustees who created new Vision and Mission statements and a three-year Strategic Action Plan centered around what we believe is most important to everyone in the toy industry — delivering comfort, joy, and the extraordinary benefits of play to every child.

The toy industry is incredibly philanthropic and The Toy Foundation is here to unite toy companies of all sizes and generate the greatest impact for children in need. A few recent examples of how The Toy Foundation has grown to better serve and unite the industry include:

· We transformed our Toy Bank into the industry’s turnkey partner for all product donations, from inventory management to emergency situations, and trade shows. At Toy Fair in October 2023, hundreds of exhibiting companies donated more than $2 million in toys that we delivered to 30,000 children in need just in time for the holidays.

· We launched our Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Pipeline Program and engaged hundreds of college and university students in a case study competition and at Toy Fair 2023 with in-person learning and recruitment opportunities.

· We have united our three program areas — Toy Bank, DEI, and Play Grants — to yield a greater impact. Toy Bank delivers joy to children in need every day, but also supports our Children’s Hospital Program and our DEI Pipeline Program. In addition to financial support, we provide toys play therapy programs across the country. We also weave the power and purpose of what we do into the curriculum of our DEI Program.

There are opportunities for toy companies and individuals alike to help advance our programs delivering toys to children in need. A great first step to get involved is to join our Leaders Circle with a personal donation of $250 or more.

MM: What are some of the coolest toys you’ve seen donated?

PM: We are grateful to the toy industry for donating hundreds of thousands of toys every year to children in need. While they all create so much joy for the children, the toys that create the biggest smiles are what is most popular at the time. Our Toy Bank collection at Toy Fair collected the hottest new toys that are now part of community toy drives, pop-up “toy stores” for parents to pick out donated items for their children, and other holiday events. The joy it creates for the parents to give their child the “it” holiday toy and for their child to open is priceless.

MM: How do you find organizations and companies to partner with?

PM: Our Strategic Plan is focused on uniting the toy industry to significantly impact more children in need — more than companies can achieve on their own. We look to partner with small, medium, and large companies at a level they are able and in the program area that best aligns with their philanthropic initiatives. We then build and deliver a quality collaboration to meet their unique goals and create a greater impact on children in need together. To expand and increase our impact, we also have a growing network of mission partners. We work with more than 500 qualified nonprofits, NGOs, and children’s hospitals, including Convoy of Hope, Hope for Henry, and World Vision, on a regular basis and support one another in our respective missions.

MM: What kind of feedback have the children provided about their toys?

PM: We hear repeatedly from our mission partners about the comfort, joy, and the extraordinary physical, emotional, and educational benefits play delivers to children and their families. A new toy is a reminder to the child that they are loved; for a child who is hospitalized it’s an incentive to follow their treatment plan and heal faster; for parents it’s a welcomed distraction; and so much more. This past summer The Toy Foundation and Paramount, a regular Toy Bank supporter, joined Metro World Child, one of our mission partners, at a block party to speak with representatives to learn about the impact of the industry’s donations and surprise every child with a new toy. Watch this video to learn and see the impact of our work see the children’s excitement :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XP0f3mvRkDQ

MM: How do you hope this charity evolves over the next five years?

PM: We look to build upon the inroads we have made and continue to engage the industry in each of our program areas, communicate its impact, and join forces to build upon the important work being done. A number of companies are engaged in planned, annual partnerships with The Toy Foundation — Beacon Media Group, Jazwares, Mattel, The Pokémon Company International, and VTech, and this is only the start. Over the next five years we hope to build similar partnerships with small, medium, and large toy companies, and expand to companies in adjacent industries, to double our impact. We are the uniting force for the toy industry and the more partnerships we have we can strategically grow each of our program areas to impact even more children in need. If your company is passionate about delivering play to all children, please reach out to me at pmastrota@toyfoundation.org to discuss opportunities to be part of our mission.

MM: What are your ultimate goals for the future and is there anything else that you would like to mention?

PM: We believe in a world where every child has the opportunity to experience play and our work will not be done until this becomes a reality. Through our programs and in our industry partnerships we are committed to supporting all children in need, delivering measurable outcomes, and creating meaningful engagement opportunities year-round. Giving is top of mind for companies and individuals during the holiday season and we are grateful for all product and monetary donations as we work to make the holidays merry and bright for all children. If you have new product to donate, fill out and submit a donation form. Individual and corporate monetary donations can also be completed online. Beyond the holidays, our Toy Bank, Play Grants, and DEI Program operate year-round to serve and support children and we look forward to building long-term partnerships and be the toy industry’s philanthropic partner 365 days a year.

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