To kick off last year’s holiday season The Walt Disney Company launched its annual Disney Ultimate Toy Drive to collect toys for the Marine Toys for Tots charity, and it seems the collections have set a new record for the company.
The Details
For over 75 years, Disney has supported the Marine Toys for Tots Program to help deliver millions of toys to children and families in need during the holiday season.
In fact, Walt Disney and his animators designed the original Toys for Tots train logo in 1947 that is still used today.
According to Disney, the 2023 Ultimate Toy Drive campaign broke its previous toy collection and Disney VoluntEARS participation records.
With the help of families and fans, as well as collaborations from every part of the company, over 392,000 toys were donated globally to organizations serving children in need, with more than 293,000 of those toys going to Toys for Tots.
Disney VoluntEARS also spent nearly 11,000 hours supporting Toys for Tots and the Disney Ultimate Toy Drive.
About the Toy Drive
The 2023 campaign kicked off on ABC’s “Good Morning America” on November 7th, and included toy collections at Disney stores, Downtown Disney District at Disneyland Resort, Disney Springs at Walt Disney World Resort, an online toy drive at shopDisney.com, and supporting events across the company.
“For over 75 years, Disney has been with Toys for Tots every step of the way helping the program expand and serve an ever-increasing number of children in need,” said retired Marine Colonel Ted Silvester, Vice President of the Marine Toys for Tots Foundation.
“In 2023, Toys for Tots distributed the magic of the holidays to over 10 million children of which Disney played a major role in collecting a record number of toys, providing thousands of VoluntEARS, and broadcasting a message of hope through their numerous channels heard by the millions!”
The company also hosted numerous events supporting Toys for Tots, including:
- November 28: ESPN joined the South Street Pier community in New York City with a Tree-lighting Ceremony and toy collection including ESPN talent.
- December 2: Disney Junior and Just Play hosted an afternoon of screenings of Disney Junior holiday episodes for military families accompanied by holiday-themed crafts, activities, a special appearance from Santa, and a donation of toys from Just Play in celebration of the Disney Ultimate Toy Drive.
- December 5: Disney VoluntEARS joined Toys for Tots at a special toy collection event for lawmakers in Washington D.C. on Capitol Hill.
- December 9 and 10: Disney’s annual Light Up the Season holiday event for cast members continued for a second day for D23 fans to enjoy the fun. Both days included toy collections with U.S. Marines who were on hand to accept donations as well as cards that guests of the event made to wish the recipients happy holidays.
- December 9 and 10: In Anaheim, Downtown Disney brought the Disney Ultimate Toy Drive to life with toy collections and performances from the local Marines band.
- December 11: Marvel Studios hosted a press event for the second season of “What If…?” at The Walt Disney Studios lot and included a toy collection for attendees.
- December 16 – 18: Walt Disney World Resort VoluntEARS accompanied Santa Mickey to the Toys for Tots Orange County distribution event, where toys were delivered to children and families in need from across the region.
Thank you to all those who participated, helping make the annual Disney Ultimate Toy Drive the most successful one yet!