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With an aim to spread more smiles, the Adani Foundation organised the 'Toy se Joy' initiative to make a difference in the lives of several underprivileged children.

For every child, the festive season means getting their favorite presents and toys wrapped in love and affection. However, there are many children who are deprived of this beautiful emotion. The Adani Foundation which has been working closely with underprivileged children for many years now decided to make the most of the festive season and bring a bright smile to the faces of these children.

The Adani Foundation recently organised a unique initiative, 'Toy se Joy' where employees from all the business verticals of the Adani Group, donated new and old toys which were then distributed to the underprivileged children across various locations in Ahmedabad. Along with donating toys, the initiative also saw employees donning the hat of enthusiastic volunteers who helped the team to segregate the gifts, wrap them and distribute them.

Pooja Dalwani, an employee says, "The entire experience of being a volunteer
throughout this exercise was exhilarating but seeing the smile on the faces of these children when we distributed the toys was unparallel to any other joy. The 'Toy se Joy' initiative was indeed an experience that I will always cherish."

While the response towards the debut edition of this initiative was overwhelming, the team feels there's a vast scope for such community-building drives in the future.

"Christmas is all about reveling in the festive spirit and bringing joy to our loved ones. And while we wanted to celebrate the festivities with the lesser fortunate, we wanted employees to be at the forefront of this humble initiative," says Vasant Gadhavi, executive director of the Adani Foundation.

"Often when we think of donations, we largely limit our options to clothes, stationery, or educational books. Initially, we wanted to have all these options, but we narrowed it down to toys, which was totally worth it," adds Gadhavi.

"With this initiative, our motto was to promote the importance of free play, especially during the current times when children are glued to their gadgets almost 24X7," adds Gadhavi whilst divulging details about the relevance of free play.

He further adds, "Also, when children grow up, parents often come across the dilemma of how to store their child's toys, and often these toys are untouched and brand new. So, we decided that the employees can donate old or even brand new toys."

Around 900 toys were collected of which around 280 toys were distributed by our volunteers to Apang Manav Mandal, while the remaining were distributed at Vikasgruh - children's home, Shishugarh - home for infants, and construction sites in the city.

The infectious smile and the joy seen on the faces of the children after distributing these toys left every volunteer with happy memories.