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Teen Donates Nearly 50,000 Toys To Kids Who Will Be Spending Holidays In The Hospital

By administrator December 16, 2021 2 min read

Tyler Slaven is not your ordinary teenager. For the past six years, he has donated thousands of toys to the kids at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus.

The 19-year-old has made it his mission this year to reach more than 50,000 toys given to patients since he started.

Photo: YouTube/Local 12

Slaven understands that these ill children are stuck in the hospital for a long time and wanted to help cheer them up. He says these are the kids who need brightened up the most.

“Why not do a toy drive for kids that are kind of down and not able to get around and poor health conditions, especially around Christmas? So that was when the idea was born,” Slaven told Local 12.

Photo: YouTube/Local 12

With help from their school, Ohio Virtual Academy, Slaven and his sister were able to get toy donations from all over the state. When they first started in 2015, they had 800 toys donated. Every year they do it, they receive more and more toy donations. In 2019, more than 20,000 toys were collected and donated.

So far, Slaven and his sister have helped donate more than 46,000 toys to the hospital so far, just a few thousand short from their goal.

Photo: YouTube/Local 12

Although most of these children won’t get to spend the holidays at home with their families, their newly gifted toys will be able to bring smiles to their faces and spread some holiday cheer this Christmas.

Learn more about Slaven’s selfless efforts in the video below:

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Healthly Days Editorial Team

This article was curated and reviewed for clarity and reader accessibility by the Healthly Days healthcare content system.