East Coast Radio's Toy Story 2009 kicks off with OUTsurance

Every day, thousands of children across KwaZulu-Natal face the grim realities of living a life affected by the deadly HIV/Aids pandemic. Over the next three months, Toy Story 2009 will distribute tens of thousands of toys and food parcels to children affected by HIV/Aids throughout KwaZulu-Natal, in an attempt to bring a hint of festive cheer into their lives this Christmas. We recognise that so many children in our province are without the basic necessities to live sustainably, and run this campaign to help make a difference.

“Each year the generosity of east coasters shines through. Over the last ten years we have learnt about charity and grown together, the aim of making life better for our children uniting us. We are proud to be a part of a community that cares and are thankful for that support,” said Nazarene Khan, East Coast Radio's Marketing Manager.

Toy Story is one of East Coast Radio's annual Corporate Social Investment (CSI) campaigns that began ten years ago. It strives to inject happiness into the lives of children. Humble beginnings saw Toy Story bring in 300 used toys in 1999. This figure has escalated beyond words and last year we raised an incredible R1 million and 65 000 new toys were collected.

The money raised during the campaign is used to purchase food parcels that are distributed to child-headed households. These food parcels, valued at R300 each are designed with a family's daily needs in mind. All the contents have been especially designed to sustain a family of between four and six for approximately five weeks. Food items like maize, which provide a staple diet and pilchards, which are high in Omega 3 and recommended to HIV/Aids patients are included in the parcels.

The toys that are received are sorted according to gender and age, and each new toy finds an appropriate home with a child at one of the 63 government hospitals, orphanages or child-headed households throughout our province. For most of these children, this toy will be the first brand new thing they have every received, or ever will receive.

OUTsurance - who have a strong belief in helping KZN out - are once again the sponsors of the campaign. “We're very excited to be involved with Toy Story again this year. It sits firmly within our over arching campaign which is helping South Africa out,” said Peter Cronje, Marketing Director at OUTsurance.

The situation throughout KwaZulu-Natal is ever changing, improving in some areas, while deteriorating in others. Every donation you make, no matter how small, powers Toy Story.

Make a donation to Toy Story 2009 - every bit helps.

Donations can be made to:

East Coast Radio Toy Story 2009
Bank: First National Bank Commercial
Branch: Gateway
Branch number: 25 01 08
Account number: 622 224 283 37
Reference: Your name

Online donations: www.ecr.co.za

New toys can be dropped off at Pick 'n Pay stores throughout KZN, Durban Deliveries and at East Coast Radio.

For more information on Toy Story visit www.ecr.co.za.