This is from our 2022 Hacking for the Holidays Campaign. Learn more about our current 2023 Hacking for the Holidays campaign.
Help Us Adapt 500 Toys for Kids With Disabilities This Holiday Season!
We are excited to announce our #HackingForTheHolidays (new window) event series and fundraising campaign.
Over the last year, we have met therapists and families across Canada that need toys that are accessible to kids with disabilities. These toys have a “switch jack” connected to it that allows assistive technology to plug into the toy to activate it.
Commercially, switches and switch-accessible toys are expensive, and easily exceed $100 each. That high cost leaves many families and therapists without the interactive engaging toys that are crucial to childhood development.
Neil Squire’s Makers Making Change (new window) program and volunteer network are experts at purchasing battery operated toys, taking them apart, and adding in the switch jacks. Often, the cost to adapt the toy is $5 or less.
A donation of $50 can purchase a toy and provide the parts to make a switch, giving a child everything they need to play with a new toy this year.
Our Goal: Adapt 500 Toys for Families and Therapists Across Canada
Leading into the holidays, we want to:
- Adapt 500 toys for families and therapists.
- Host at least 20 events across Canada.
- Raise $25,000 to support this programming.
Over the campaign, we’ll share stories from families, therapists, and our volunteers that are closing this access gap. We are planning toy hackathon events where students, volunteers, and corporate partners will build adapt toys for kids with disabilities. Your donation and support can help us fund the toys and parts, make the adaptations, and close this access gap this holiday season.
This campaign is part of Neil Squire’s annual #PoweredToEnable fundraising campaign.
