A bank full of joy
A story by Our Better World - telling stories of good to inspire action.
Update March 2016:
When we came across Toybank in 2012, it had 30 toy libraries and had served a total of 30,000 children in the three years since it had been registered.
It now works with 35,000 children every day in the 250 toy libraries it operates.
And one of the things founder Shweta is happiest about is that children from different economic backgrounds are mixing at the toy libraries.
Toybank is now on Global Giving's platform, where you can give access to play to disadvantaged children through a one-off or recurring donation.
Shweta Chari was having dinner with friends in 2004 when she shared an idea to create a place where children could play.
Sharing that many children are forced to be labourers at an early age, sometimes in dangerous industries such as firecrackers, the electronics engineer wanted to help them regain their childhood.
"Simple toys can make them children again," says Shweta, who later that year, with the help of her friends, founded Toybank.
The NGO provides toys and a place to play, to kids whose families can't afford to buy what many consider a luxury.
Determined to give these children the right to a childhood, Toybank has put smiles on the faces of thousands of children in India.
Filmed, edited and produced by Pearl Forss
