Amid hectic days filled with coursework and recruiting activities, MBA students at London Business School (LBS) still make time to give back as part of the holiday season with an annual toy drive to benefit children in need in London’s Marylebone neighborhood. This year, LBS students, faculty and staff have gathered more than 400 presents to donate to local kids in need, the school reports.
High levels of unemployment, crime and inadequate housing make parts of Marylebone, in inner city London, among the most deprived areas in England, the school reports. Recognizing this, LBS’s Community Action Group, supported by the Student Volunteering Club, first organized a toy drive in 2009. In the seven years since the toy drive launched, more than 3,000 toys have been collected for donation.
“One of the biggest things preventing people from volunteering is lack of time,” Tina Clark, chair of the LBS Community Action Group, said in a statement. “That’s the beauty of the toy drive; it’s such a relatively simple way for a busy person to contribute, and when multiplied many times over, it makes quite an impact.”
Indeed, each winter LBS students, faculty and staff buy hundreds of gifts for children in need, both those living in deprived areas like Marylebone and those being treated at St. Mary’s Hospital Paediatric Intensive Care Unit. The donated gifts are then distributed to local children—ranging in age from birth to 12—at multiple sites, including the Luton Street Nursery, Flossie’s Playgroup and Lisson Green Nursery; Fourth Feathers Youth Club; holiday parties organized by charity partners Vital Regeneration and CityWest Homes, and the hospital children’s ward.
